The Bartered Body

by J.R. Lindermuth

steal the body of a dead woman?

That’s the most challenging question yet to be faced by Sylvester Tilghman, the third of his family to serve as sheriff of Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, in the waning days of the 19th century.

And it’s not just any body but that of Mrs. Arbuckle, Nathan Zimmerman’s late mother-in-law. Zimmerman is burgess of Arahpot and Tilghman’s boss, which puts more than a little pressure on the sheriff to solve the crime in a hurry.

Syl’s investigation is complicated by the arrival in town of a former flame who threatens his relationship with his sweetheart Lydia Longlow, clashes with his old enemy former burgess McLean Ruppenthal, a string of armed robberies and a record snowstorm that shuts down train traffic, cuts off telegraph service and freezes cattle in the field.

It will take all of Syl’s skills and the help of his deputy and friends to untangle the various threads and bring the criminals to justice

158 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 24, 2018

About the author

J.R. Lindermuth lives and writes in central Pennsylvania. A retired newspaper editor/writer, he is also librarian of his county historical society where he assists clients with research and genealogy.
He's the author of 20 published novels and two regional histories He has published stories and articles in a variety of magazines, both print and on-line.
He is a member of International Thriller Writers and is a former vice president of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

Reviews

[Sara C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I enjoyed that this book felt genuinely historic; I felt like I had been taken back to the late-1800s. Lindermuth’s representation of the time period just felt real without feeling kitschy. One detail particularly striking to me was that electricity, gas, and telephones were pretty new inventions, and not everyone had transitioned to them, that some were hesitant to make the change. It’s hard to picture today when those things were new because they’re so ingrained in our world. I thought it was a neat touch that could have been missed. I also thought it was hilarious how everyone was just willingly giving away details about the case to their friends and neighbors, while having no idea who the culprit is who stole the body. They could easily all be suspect. I love thinking about what police work would have been like in the day before there was a slew of technology, tactics, and standards involved, so this story was also intriguing in that way.

My favorite part of this book wound up being Lindermuth’s way with words. It was unique, but not in the way that it was off-putting. It took me a few pages to get used to it because his style isn’t quite like one I’ve read before, but I really found myself enjoying it soon enough! While some of the plot twists were guessable, others were a shocker, and I was absolutely not expecting how everything/everyone was intertwined to the big-picture mystery. I don’t tend to read a lot of detective mysteries, but I enjoyed the way this one was done.

I loved the setting of this book as well; it is a very history-rich part of the state, as far as I’m concerned, and somewhere with personal history to myself as I have family from the region and have been there a number of times throughout my life. It added a cool twist to the story, as even with the late-1800s setting, it felt recognizable to me.

Since this isn't my go-to genre, I honestly wouldn't mark it off as a favorite, but I truly enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it to fans of the genre. It was a great read as a break from my usual!

[Marja McGraw · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Bartered Body” by J.R. Lindermuth is full of twists and turns that kept me reading. I just had to know what would happen next.

At the end of the 19th century a woman’s body disappears from a funeral home. This rocked the small town of Arahpot. In the meantime, robberies are occurring and a momentous snowstorm hits the area.

Sheriff Tilghman has his work cut out for him as he follows those twists and turns, trying to figure out what happened and trying to juggle a romance.

I don’t want to give the story away, so let me just say that you’ll love the mystery of it all and the time period it takes place in.

I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy mysteries with a touch of history.

[Sheila Hendrix · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bartered Body by J. R. Lindermuth is a delightful read full of twists and turns. It was set back in the 1800’s and the author captured the era perfectly. I don’t usually read historical fiction but I really enjoyed this book. It’s a short read and can easily be finished in a day. The characters were very realistic and the story kept me guessing. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves history and a good tale.

[Judy & Marianne from Long and Short Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anything can be useful if it ends up in the right hands.

Sylvester was an intelligent and thorough investigator. I enjoyed seeing him investigate all of the clues about what was really happening in his community. He didn’t leave a single stone unturned no matter how little it seemed to be related to the case at hand, and that made him a fascinating sheriff to read about. His dedication to his work and his strong emotional bond to the people he served only made me like him even more. I couldn’t have picked a better sheriff for this town.

This book had such a large cast of characters that I struggled to keep track of everyone.Just about everybody was introduced in the beginning, but their relationships to each other weren’t always made clear immediately. The combination of getting to know a few dozen different folks and remembering how they all knew each other made it hard to be sure of who was who, especially for the characters who only popped up occasionally.

The mystery itself was well written. I appreciated the way the plot introduced various hints about who may or may not have been responsible for the theft of the corpse as well as everything that happened after that scene. It gave me exactly enough information to come up with my own theories about who the culprit was and why they did it without making anything too obvious.

This is the third instalment in a series. It can be read on its own or out of order.

The Bartered Body should be read by anyone who enjoys thought-provoking mysteries.

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[Patricia Gligor · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Bartered Body" by J.R. LIndermuth is a fantastic read! As the intriguing plot unfolded, I felt as if I were actually in the small town of Arahpot, Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. I attribute that to the fact that the author has done an incredible job of creating characters who are authentic to the setting and the time period - from their speech patterns and the clothes they wore to the food they ate.
I highly recommend this book!

[Melina Druga · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept that falls flat. The story is told from a first person perspective and is more dialogue than prose. Dialogue not appropriate for 1899 Pennsylvania. On the plus side, I thought I had figured out who the criminal was but I was mistaken. I will be writing a more detailed review of the novel on my blog (publishing 11/29/18).