Final resting place

Politics, murder, legal drama, and romance are combined in the third in this series featuring Abraham Lincoln and his roommate (from 1837 to 1841) and lifelong friend, Joshua Speed. Election fervor is growing in the summer of 1838 in Springfield, Illinois Whig candidate Lincoln is running for reelection to the state legislature, and Democrat Stephen Douglas is a candidate for the U.S. Congress, when land-office registrar Jacob Early is shot during a Fourth of July fireworks display, just after telling Lincoln briefly about irregularities that he's found in Lincoln's work. Early's known foe, Henry Truett, is immediately arrested, despite a lack of evidence, and asks Lincoln to defend him, while Douglas is named to prosecute. But Lincoln is sadly distracted by the poisoning of Mary Owens, the woman he's courting, as well by as his memories of Ann Rutledge, a woman he loved who died three years earlier. Putnam, a lawyer and amateur Lincoln scholar, wraps everything up neatly in this historical mystery, based on solid research, in a briskly moving narrative that's factually accurate down to the quirks in Douglas' courtroom behavior.--Michele Leber Copyright 2018 Booklist

A small-town lawyer who will later become legendary unravels a complex murder plot to save the reputation and life of an old friend.When Old Man Evans finally departs this mortal coil, the residents of Springfield, Illinois, are less surprised that he's dead than that he lived all the way to 1838. Young Joshua Speed, who narrates in an appropriately stately first person, has his eye on Evans' estate. His hope that he has a slight advantage because he shares lodgings with the auctioneer, Abraham Lincoln, is quickly squelched by the ethical Lincoln. Instead, the property goes to apothecary Henry Owens, whose "ravenous" affect unsettles Speed. Weeks later, Owens tells Lincoln that he has a hard time working with local registrar Jacob Early, a controversial figure to many. In a public meeting, political rival Henry Truett confronts Early and accuses him of libel. Not long after, Early's found dead, shot in the forehead. Swiftly arrested, Truett pressures Lincoln into representing him. In an ironic twist, the lawyer appointed to prosecute the case is Stephen Douglas. Against the backdrop of the trial, Lincoln and Speed (Perish from the Earth, 2017, etc.) work to exonerate Truett by finding the real killer.Putnam's third period mystery is gracefully written, nicely balancing sleuthing with courtroom drama, and should especially please history buffs. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Politics, murder, legal drama, and romance are combined in the third in this series featuring Abraham Lincoln and his roommate (from 1837 to 1841) and lifelong friend, Joshua Speed. Election fervor is growing in the summer of 1838 in Springfield, Illinois—Whig candidate Lincoln is running for reelection to the state legislature, and Democrat Stephen Douglas is a candidate for the U.S. Congress, when land-office registrar Jacob Early is shot during a Fourth of July fireworks display, just after telling Lincoln briefly about irregularities that he's found in Lincoln's work. Early's known foe, Henry Truett, is immediately arrested, despite a lack of evidence, and asks Lincoln to defend him, while Douglas is named to prosecute. But Lincoln is sadly distracted by the poisoning of Mary Owens, the woman he's courting, as well by as his memories of Ann Rutledge, a woman he loved who died three years earlier. Putnam, a lawyer and amateur Lincoln scholar, wraps everything up neatly in this historical mystery, based on solid research, in a briskly moving narrative that's factually accurate down to the quirks in Douglas' courtroom behavior. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.