Blood Atonement

by Barbara Townsend

Missouri Territory, 1846: Driven by angry mobs, thousands of Latter-day Saints flee their homes in the eastern United States. They gather west of the Missouri River to wait out the winter and hope they survive hunger and disease.

A church leader unveils a shocking, divine revelation to teenage sisters Aveline and Frances Bowmore: they must marry married men. The specter of polygamy promises heaven. Aveline and Frances feel compelled to obey. They become plural wives. The loss of each other's support while faced with angry sister-wives and husbands they'd just met stretches their willpower to the breaking point.

Aveline's world shatters when gentle Frances is brutally strangled. Grief-stricken, Aveline trusts the camp police chief to find the pious Mormon's killer, but the chief stalls his investigation. She presses him and Frances' husband for answers. Aveline's husband orders her to cease—how dare she question men?

Time is running out to discover the truth about Frances's murder. Spring approaches and the Saints prepare for the overland journey west to Zion. Aveline quietly defies her husband. She discovers secrets of powerful men—secrets they don't want revealed.

344 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2013

About the author

My first two novels were trade published, historical mystery Blood Atonement and contemporary mystery Clear and Convincing Evidence. My third novel was Tarnished Gold, a historical romance-mystery. My current Work in Progress is local non-fiction.

Reviews

[Lee M Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An emotional murder mystery set in the 1840's of Missouri territory.

A very well researched historical fiction thriller set in the time of the Mormon persecution prior to heading west to Zion in the Utah desert. This is set in a time, as the author points out, when hot drink of caffeine and consumption of alcohol was still allowed by a Mormon in good standing. It is also a time when the western greed concept of plural marriages was just beginning. Furthermore, it shows how the women who were subject to those marriages were treated.

Much as Beverly Lewis gives a view into the Amish life, Barbara Townsend gives us a view into the early Mormons. This was an engaging educational book that gave Gentile Christians a woman's view of what life was like in the early Latter Day Saints culture. Barbara Townsend leads us through the life of a second wife; disease, starvation, and death on the frontier; the distrust of Gentiles; the lust for power and position; sealing; and the semi-blind obedience to a charismatic leader who makes and changes all the rules. The only missing lessons in this education are the Mormon explanations and consequences of disfellowshipment and excommunication. Through this educational journey she weaves and ties an engaging story of the murder of an innocent young plural wife.

Barbara presents a multi-faceted view of people and the world through the eyes and mind of a 16-year-old second wife, Aveline. Accurately, she portrays the emotionally driven but worldly naive views and actions of a teenager trying to be loyal to her families new found beliefs.

I found the story and the education an interesting journey that I will recommend to many other historical fiction book lovers.

Thank you Barbara, for proving Miss Rathert of Franklin Elementary wrong. We can succeed.

[Cheryl White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend suggested this book to me, as she knew I liked historical fiction and mysteries. It is both. Based on careful research, it tells the story of a fictional Mormon family in 1846, as they prepare to move from Winter Quarters to Zion, in what is now Utah. A plural wife, a young woman, is murdered, and her sister, also a plural wife in a different family, is determined to find the murderer.
It was not a story I will soon forget.
I've already ordered a second novel from the author.

[Mary Cote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting mystery, with a very real, very strong main character in Aveline. The simple historical fact, as so well researched by Barbara Townsend, is that this novel is set in a time and place where women had no voice. The introduction of multiple wives made the situation that much harder for women, and reduced them to chattel ranks. Despite this, and with full knowledge of the consequences she could face, Aveline is determined to discover who killed her sister, and to have that person held to account. While primarily a mystery, and a well-written one at that, this is a story about a strong, determined woman, who rises above her ordered lot in life, to do what she thinks is right. This is a tremendously powerful book that gives us an intimate glimpse of what it was like to be part of the LDS church in the early days of polygamy. It shows us the strength - physically, emotionally and spiritually - of the people who travelled the Pioneer trail and who settled this continent, in a way most books have not been able to achieve.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW this book grabs you at the very beginning and you can't put it down!!!! If you love historical/"who done it" fiction you will love this book. I find myself still wondering about Aveline, Dorris, Em and Carissa.