by Kasi Blake
Dedication
To Paul and Anne Holzwarth, long time Sutton residents whose patience, advice, and support were invaluable.
To Chief Dennis J. Towle of the Sutton police department who provided details to assist in my research.
To Joan May, who inspires me with her writings and who offers wonderful feedback on my stories.
To my Mensa Writing Group, especially Ruth, Tom, Lynn, and Ken, who provide valuable commentary on my projects. Jody Zolli provides vast reams of notes and suggestions.
To my uncle Blake, who provides enthusiastic cheerleading. My Dad is great at finding typos everyone else has missed.
To my Geek Girls who support me with nurturing encouragement in all my projects.
To my BellaOnline editors, including Lisa B and Denise C, who inspire me to be the best I can.
Neptune’s Car is an amazing local band featuring the talented musicianship of Holly Hanson and Steve Hayes. Be sure to visit NeptunesCar.com to hear their music and support their efforts.
To Bob See, my beloved partner of seventeen years and counting. When I mentioned my mystery series project to him, he never hesitated. He went with me on scouting visits to the Sutton Forest and Lake Singletary, he hunted through brush for likely sites of murders, and he photographed hundreds of turkey-tail mushroom, nuthatches, aspen trees, and other local delights. Without him none of this could have been possible.
Most of all, to all my loyal fans on Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, and other sites who support my efforts. Thank you!
All references to the 1968 drowning of Eileen are fictitious and were invented for the purpose of this fictional story.
Glossary
1906 Drowning – On July 11, 1906, Chester Gillette took his pregnant 20-year-old girlfriend Grace Brown out on a boat and capsized it, so he could pursue a wealthy woman instead. The murder fascinated the US and was reported coast to coast.
A Place in the Sun – This film from 1951 featured Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Cliff. It was based on the 1925 novel An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.
An American Tragedy – Published in 1925, this novel by Theodore Dreiser quickly became a best seller. It was closely based on the 1906 murder. It features Clyde Griffiths and Roberta Alden as the unfortunate couple. Dreiser deliberately gave his protagonist the initials CG to match Chester Gillette.
Newell Sherman – On July 20, 1935, Newell Sherman took his young wife Alice out onto Lake Singletary in Sutton MA and deliberately drowned her. He did so because he had fallen in love with seventeen year old Esther Magill, who worked with him at a machine shop in Whitinsville. The trial became a nationwide sensation, and was called “An American Tragedy” in many news reports, relating it to the book and the 1906 drowning-murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette.
Lake Singletary – Lake Singletary is partly in Sutton, partly in Millbury. About 330 acres in size, Lake Singletary has a maximum depth of 37 feet. The one boat ramp is on the northern side in Millbury, while the Sutton Town Beach, former site of Marion’s Camp, is on the southern side.
Purgatory Chasm – a chasm caused perhaps 14,000 years ago by the sudden releasing of a glacial ice dam. The granite cliffs on either side rise up to eighty feet high.
Ramshorn Pond – Ramshorn Pond (pronounced rams-horn) is a private pond in Sutton and is about 110 acres in size.
Sutton MA – Founded in 1704, Sutton is located in lower central Massachusetts, close to the Rhode Island border. The town has two large lakes, the beauty of Purgatory Chasm, and is primarily farmland and forest.
About the Author
Lisa Shea was born in Maryland during the Vietnam War to a father in the Air Force and a mother who worked as a journalist. She grew up in various towns along the eastern seaboard, raised in an environment where writing and researching the past were as natural as spending weekends tromping through old-growth woods looking for stone wall foundations. Her concept of art focused on cemetery stone rubbings and photos of old homesteads.
When Lisa moved to Sutton, Massachusetts in 1995, she finally found her true home. Sutton's rustic charm, dense forests, and bucolic farmland all resonated with her creative spirit. The stories she had been writing since she was young now had a fertile ground in which to flourish.
Lisa's first book set in Sutton, Aspen Allegations, was written in November 2012 in a chapter-a-day style. Each day she explored Sutton and its surrounding areas and then wrote those experiences into the chapter. The mystery-romance earned a gold medal from the 2013 IPPY awards. Her second book, Birch Blackguards, was written in the same chapter-a-day style in August 2013. It earned the 2014 IPPY bronze medal. The third book in the series, Cedar Conundrums, was written in May 2014.
All author’s proceeds from the Sutton Massachusetts Mysteries series benefit local battered women's shelters.
Lisa Shea has published over 200 books. Besides the Sutton series, the Blackstone Valley mystery series has scenes in Sutton and two of the short stories, Armsby and Melting, are set in Sutton.
This photo was taken on the bridge in Purgatory.
