Dust Bowl Derailment Mystery

Bruce Von Stiers

Recently I reviewed a mystery novel titled Death of a Rainmaker. It was set in the Dust Bowl era of Oklahoma. It was the first in a series called Dust Bowl Mystery. The mystery was written by Laurie Loewenstein, whose previous work included the novel Unmentionables.

Now there is a second book in the Dust Bowl Mystery series. Again, written by Loewenstein, the new novel is titled Funeral Train. It features many of the characters from the first novel. It was published by Kaylie Jones Books, an imprint of Akashic Books.

The core of the novel centers around a train wreck. The passenger train was set to stop in Vermillion, Oklahoma. But it derails just as it's beginning to enter town. Was the derailment an accident or something nefarious? It's up to sheriff Temple Jennings and his deputy Ed McCance to follow the clues and find out what actually happened. They are aided by a railroad detective named Claude Steele.

There are several sub-plots that eventually blend into the main body of the story. There is a woman named Ruthie-Jo who may have discovered a piece of the puzzle. But she's not exactly what she appears to be. And Temple's wife, Etha, was on train and severely injured during the derailment. A disgruntled ex-employee of the railroad seems to be the prime suspect in that derailment, but he comes up with an alibi. Also included as a sub-plot is Etha's niece, the woman's drunkard husband and their children who are set to spend Christmas with Etha and Temple. There is a bunch of drama involved in that sub-plot. There is also a sub-plot involving contraband cigarettes and people being threatened. And then there is a murder thrown in as well.

For the most part, I enjoyed the book. The story was pretty solid and flowed evenly. The characters were believable, sometimes almost too believable. The author laid out some decent breadcrumbs, so if you pay close attention, the mystery of the derailment and subsequent murder won't be that big of a surprise.

I do have one bone to pick about the book. And it's how the author refers to the railroad. In the book, the railroad is always referred to as the AT&SF. It stands for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad. I live in Topeka, which is one of the names of the railroad. Locally, the railroad was known as Santa Fe until it was purchased by the Burlington Northern railroad. We have a railroad car assembly plant here that is still often referred to as the Santa Fe Shops. So, if us locals called the railroad Santa Fe, wouldn't it follow that other regions would call it the same name? That might not have been the case, but it seemed to be a sticking point as I read the book. However, it didn't detract me from enjoying the book as a whole.

Funeral Train is available at most major book retailers.

To find out more about Funeral Train and its author, Laurie Lowenstein, visit https://laurieloewenstein.com/ You might also want to check out https://kayliejonesbooks.com/ and https://www.akashicbooks.com/

Back to the BVS Reviews Main Menu

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

© 2023 Bruce E Von Stiers