When aspiring journalist Mariel Erickson leaves the civilized comforts of Chicago for Goss Valley, a small town on the Dakota prairie, she isn't prepared for the turmoil she and her husband encounter. As if hostile homesteaders, harsh weather, impoverished Indians, and shady frontier politics aren't bad enough, Mariel soon finds herself embroiled in Goss Valley's first murder case. The facts of the case appear straightforward. In full view of five witnesses, wagon driver Clyde Hartwig beat an Irish immigrant to death with a baseball bat. The victim was, known as a decent and hardworking family man. But, Mariel hears rumors of his involvement with homemade bombs and Fenian terrorism. Could that have been Hartwig's motive? On assignment for the town's fledgling newspaper, Mariel must get the killer's side of the story, before he's silenced by the hangman's rope. Hartwig's trial, set for early January, promises to be the biggest event to ever, happen in the short history of Goss Valley, and the residents eagerly anticipate a fine spectacle. Little does anyone know that a much larger force is about to descend on the town, revealing how capricious life on the prairie can be

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