Mysteries Abound In Phantom Bog!

Every once in awhile a series comes along that I just love. The Henry David Thoreau Mysteries are just those. While the stories are compelling and enjoyable, in my opinion these two authors love the written word as much as I do. Each sentence is thoughtfully crafted and I love how they do it.

About the book:

Henry David Thoreau’s impassioned activism in the Underground Railroad leads him away from the banks of Walden Pond into a morass of murder…

In the spring of 1848, Thoreau returns to Plumford, Massachusetts, in search of a fellow conductor on the Underground Railroad, who has gone missing along with the escaped female slave he was assigned to transport. With the help of his good friend, Dr. Adam Walker, Thoreau finds the conductor—shot to death on a back road.

When the two men discover that Adam’s beloved cousin Julia has given the slave safe harbor, their relief is counterbalanced by concern for Julia, who has put herself in grave danger. Another conductor has been murdered in a neighboring town and a letter has been found from someone claiming to have been hired to assassinate anyone harboring fugitive slaves. With all of them now potential targets, the need for Thoreau and Adam to apprehend the killer is more urgent than ever…

My Five Star Review

Once again B.B. Oak has hit a homerun. Thoreau in Phantom Blog is another great book in the Henry David Thoreau Mystery series. This is my second book in the series and like the first one I just loved it. We only see Thoreau through the eyes of the lovers Adam and Julia whose romance has been and will continue to be usurped by Julia's husband, a horrible Frenchman who earned his money through the slave trade.

Back in Plumford, Massachusetts, a runaway slave hides in Phantom Bog after her conductor (the person helping her escape) is murdered. He is not the only one killed and no one knows who is doing the dastardly deed. Henry Thoreau, a farmer, philosopher, and all around detective decides to look into the matter as he is, secretly of course, a conductor himself. Our dear friend Julia takes on the persona of a conductor to help the runaway slave whose journey has been waylaid by the murdering scoundrel while Adam, the town's doctor and Julia's lover is not enamored of her helping. However Julia, strong of mind, does as she pleases.

The cast of characters is as fantastic as the writing. There is a photographer who takes more than pictures, a sheriff in need of a mental health day, a sickly grandmother and a nutty Frenchman who thinks he can own his wife Julia. The writing is strong, the verbiage of the time amazingly accurate and fun. As I said before, you can tell the Oaks love words as they use them so well to tell a story I hated to put down.

Buy Link

About the Authors

B. B. Oak is the pen name of husband and wife Ben and Beth Oak, who write the historical mystery series featuring Henry David Thoreau, a self-reliant loner with his own code of honor and his own sense of justice.

The first book in the series is THOREAU AT DEVIL'S PERCH, followed by THOREAU ON WOLF HILL. The latest book is THOREAU IN PHANTOM BOG. "Death from a Bad Heart," a short story featuring the characters in the series, was named a Distinguished Mystery Story in The Best American Mystery Stories 2013.

Beth and Ben met at Boston University, where she majored in Journalism and he in English. After many years abroad, the Oaks now live in Connecticut. Their website is bboak.com.