The Cogan, a mysterious stretch of Pennsylvania with towering hills, swooping trees and narrow roads, claims the life of a lovely young woman, best friend to Ann Fairchild, a passionate, headstrong girl of 18.  Barely escaping with her life, Ann succumbs to shock and is unable to recall exactly what happened that cold, wintry day in the Cogan. Meanwhile, Ann’s new suitor, Army Lieutenant Phillip Matter, hunts for the killer.  Driven by guilt and shame for not saving the girls from harm that day, he grows increasingly more frustrated as he scours the Cogan for a killer he knows is still there.

Ann’s own guilt gnaws at her.  It’s because of her that Rachel is dead.  She’s the one to blame! She’s the one whose escapes tarnished the Fairchild name, and she’s the one who disobeyed her father and lied.   She had to be punished.  It was she who then convinced Rachel to accompany them to this rural setting.  And it was she who wheedled and cajoled and begged her father to take the trip that led through the Cogan. 

The Lieutenant thought it would be easy to find the killer, he was mistaken.   With a stroke of luck on that last day of the search the soldiers capture the killer dragging him from his hiding place.  The killer extracts a promise from the Lieutenant.  He is taken to Sunbury where a judge, without evidence to the contrary, sentences him to hang by his neck until dead.

Ann’s memory rejects that gruesome day, until she remembers that he is innocent.  A desperate effort to reach Sunbury to save Poll Soll proves futile by seconds and instead she witnesses his hanging.

After a time for healing Ann and Phillip marry but the promise that Lieutenant Matter wishes he’d never made turns his happy life miserable and threatens to take away everything he loves and lives for if he doesn’t fulfill it.

by R E Miller
Page Count: 284
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Publish Date: March 1, 2020
Imprint: Milford House
Genre: Mystery

FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical
FICTION / Thrillers / Historical