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Dust Bowl Mystery #1
Death of a Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery
When a rainmaker is bludgeoned to death in the pitch blackness of a colossal dust storm, small-town sheriff Temple Jennings shoulders yet another burden in the hard times of the 1930s Dust Bowl. The killing only magnifies Jennings’s ongoing troubles—a formidable opponent in the upcoming election, the repugnant burden of enforcing farm foreclosures, and his wife’s lingering grief over the loss of their young son.
As the sheriff and his young deputy investigate the murder, their suspicions focus on a teenager, Carmine, serving with the Civilian Conservation Corps. The deputy, himself a former CCCer, struggles with remaining loyal to the corps while pursuing his own aspirations as a lawman.
After Temple eventually arrests Carmine, Temple’s wife Etha quickly becomes convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove it. But Etha’s investigations soon reveal a darker web of secrets, which imperil Temple’s chances of reelection and cause the husband and wife to confront their long-standing differences about the nature of grief.
As the sheriff and his young deputy investigate the murder, their suspicions focus on a teenager, Carmine, serving with the Civilian Conservation Corps. The deputy, himself a former CCCer, struggles with remaining loyal to the corps while pursuing his own aspirations as a lawman.
After Temple eventually arrests Carmine, Temple’s wife Etha quickly becomes convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove it. But Etha’s investigations soon reveal a darker web of secrets, which imperil Temple’s chances of reelection and cause the husband and wife to confront their long-standing differences about the nature of grief.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2018
240 people are currently reading
1127 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Loewenstein
4 books56 followersLaurie Loewenstein, a fifth generation Midwesterner, is a descendent of farmers, butchers and salesmen. She grew up in central and western Ohio. She has a BA and MA in history.
Loewenstein was a reporter, feature and obituary writer for several small daily newspapers.
In her fifties, she returned to college for an MA in Creative Writing. Her first novel, Unmentionables (2014), was selected as a Midwest Connections pick and received a starred review from the Library Journal. Her current book, Death of a Rainmaker (October 2018), is the first of a mystery series set in the 1930s Dust Bowl.
Loewenstein is an instructor at Wilkes University’s Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing where she co-teaches Research for Writers and coordinates the Writing Resource Center.
After living in eastern Pennsylvania for many years, Loewenstein now resides in Columbia, Maryland.
Loewenstein was a reporter, feature and obituary writer for several small daily newspapers.
In her fifties, she returned to college for an MA in Creative Writing. Her first novel, Unmentionables (2014), was selected as a Midwest Connections pick and received a starred review from the Library Journal. Her current book, Death of a Rainmaker (October 2018), is the first of a mystery series set in the 1930s Dust Bowl.
Loewenstein is an instructor at Wilkes University’s Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing where she co-teaches Research for Writers and coordinates the Writing Resource Center.
After living in eastern Pennsylvania for many years, Loewenstein now resides in Columbia, Maryland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
October 10, 2022
Vermillion, Oklahoma in the 1930's, people still trying to recover from the great depression when they are hit by huge dust storms. These storms taking all the top soil from Farmer's fields, smothering crops, devastating lives. Farms are being repossessed, auctions of all their possessions, and many are left with little or nothing.
"In Oklahoma, the palette was nothing but brown. Brown bridal trains of dust billowed behind tractors. Curtains turned from white to strong coffee. Folks spit river mud after a duster. Washes of beige, cinnamon, and umber bled into the blue sky, depending on which direction the wind blew. The people, the land, the buildings absorbed the dust. All other colors, lesched away, while brown and its innate variations remained."
Even the townspeople are not spared. A blind theater owner trying to keep his business afloat during dwindling attendance. The people are desperate, and in their desperation offer money to a man who promises he can make it rain. Unfortunately before any results are felt, his body is found in the piles of dirt, after a fierce dust storm.
Such a terrific blending of mystery and history, a novel reflecting a look at a disastrous time and place. A time where a CCC camp, filled with men out of work, and young men whose family could no longer afford to feed them, is stationed in Vermillion. A time where a beautiful patterened tea cup could bring hardy farm women to tears, while another man depends on baseball and his books. Where a sherrif who is doing his best, Temple and his wife, both main characters are faced with losing the next election to a braggert who is trying to snow the people. It is his idea to hold a horrible event, one I skinned concerning the bashing of jackrabbits.
Some wonderful characters, a sad story and a look back into history make this a story that draws n the reader. Inspired by the non fiction book, The worst hard time, this is a homage to those who stubbornly stayed on their land.
ARC by Edelweiss.
"In Oklahoma, the palette was nothing but brown. Brown bridal trains of dust billowed behind tractors. Curtains turned from white to strong coffee. Folks spit river mud after a duster. Washes of beige, cinnamon, and umber bled into the blue sky, depending on which direction the wind blew. The people, the land, the buildings absorbed the dust. All other colors, lesched away, while brown and its innate variations remained."
Even the townspeople are not spared. A blind theater owner trying to keep his business afloat during dwindling attendance. The people are desperate, and in their desperation offer money to a man who promises he can make it rain. Unfortunately before any results are felt, his body is found in the piles of dirt, after a fierce dust storm.
Such a terrific blending of mystery and history, a novel reflecting a look at a disastrous time and place. A time where a CCC camp, filled with men out of work, and young men whose family could no longer afford to feed them, is stationed in Vermillion. A time where a beautiful patterened tea cup could bring hardy farm women to tears, while another man depends on baseball and his books. Where a sherrif who is doing his best, Temple and his wife, both main characters are faced with losing the next election to a braggert who is trying to snow the people. It is his idea to hold a horrible event, one I skinned concerning the bashing of jackrabbits.
Some wonderful characters, a sad story and a look back into history make this a story that draws n the reader. Inspired by the non fiction book, The worst hard time, this is a homage to those who stubbornly stayed on their land.
ARC by Edelweiss.
December 21, 2018
I liked this book very much. It was beautifully written. The time is the thirties and the location is Vermillion Oklahoma. It hasn't rained for 8 months. Farmers are losing their farms. People are moving out and the drought is affecting everyone.
A rainmaker comes to town promising his technique will bring the needed rain. A crowd gathers to watch the TNT display. It will be repeated the next day. The movie theater owner who is blind worries how many people will buy tickets to his next showing as he is afraid of losing his theater ownership. He feels relief when 23 people buy tickets as that will keep the theater going for a short time. A huge duster comes up during the showing and people hunker down in the theater. Later while shoveling the pile of dust or dirt away from the back fire door, he find the body of the rainmaker.
This book centers around Sheriff Temple Jennings and his wife Etha as they go about their daily lives. He has been sheriff for quite a few years but this year he has competition and it isn't looking good for him. The book tell about dish nights at the theater, the hobo camps, the CCC who are living and working in the area and the farm auctions which leaves a bad taste in Sheriff Temple's mouth as he has to attend to uphold the law.
There are many interesting and realistic characters. If you like action packed, fast moving thrillers then this book is perhaps not for you. It unfolds slowly in the telling of the story. It was never boring for me as it was a book to savor. I learned quite a bit about the dust storms. I had thought about them in the past but really hadn't realized many of the hardships and what it was like to outride the storm for the people and the livestock.
Besides learning more about the dust bowl in the thirties, I realized something about myself as a reader. The Darling Dahlias by Susan Wittig Albert is one of my favorite reads and that series takes place in Alabama during the depression in the thirties. Another favorite series is the Larry Sweazy series about Marjorie Trumaine that takes place on a remote farm in North Dakaota in the sixties. Both of these series are mysteries. They tell the story of the people living through hard times and surviving. They do not complain but handle what they have to deal with. This book is similar to my before mentioned books. I hope it becomes a new series as I will have a new top favorite series to follow. It was one of the very top 2018 reads for me.
A rainmaker comes to town promising his technique will bring the needed rain. A crowd gathers to watch the TNT display. It will be repeated the next day. The movie theater owner who is blind worries how many people will buy tickets to his next showing as he is afraid of losing his theater ownership. He feels relief when 23 people buy tickets as that will keep the theater going for a short time. A huge duster comes up during the showing and people hunker down in the theater. Later while shoveling the pile of dust or dirt away from the back fire door, he find the body of the rainmaker.
This book centers around Sheriff Temple Jennings and his wife Etha as they go about their daily lives. He has been sheriff for quite a few years but this year he has competition and it isn't looking good for him. The book tell about dish nights at the theater, the hobo camps, the CCC who are living and working in the area and the farm auctions which leaves a bad taste in Sheriff Temple's mouth as he has to attend to uphold the law.
There are many interesting and realistic characters. If you like action packed, fast moving thrillers then this book is perhaps not for you. It unfolds slowly in the telling of the story. It was never boring for me as it was a book to savor. I learned quite a bit about the dust storms. I had thought about them in the past but really hadn't realized many of the hardships and what it was like to outride the storm for the people and the livestock.
Besides learning more about the dust bowl in the thirties, I realized something about myself as a reader. The Darling Dahlias by Susan Wittig Albert is one of my favorite reads and that series takes place in Alabama during the depression in the thirties. Another favorite series is the Larry Sweazy series about Marjorie Trumaine that takes place on a remote farm in North Dakaota in the sixties. Both of these series are mysteries. They tell the story of the people living through hard times and surviving. They do not complain but handle what they have to deal with. This book is similar to my before mentioned books. I hope it becomes a new series as I will have a new top favorite series to follow. It was one of the very top 2018 reads for me.
January 29, 2019
At its core Death of a Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery by Laurie Lowenstein is historical fiction of the highest order and a murder mystery to boot, a novel of extremes it seems that starts with a bang (literally) and then comes the storm in so many ways. Lowenstein raises the stakes with a looming election, the outcome of which will have life-altering ramifications for those involved. The author paints a vivid picture of life in Oklahoma in 1935 during the Great Depression.
“In Oklahoma, the palette was nothing but brown. Brown bridal trains of dust billowed behind tractors. Curtains turned from white to strong coffee. Folks spit river mud after a duster. Washes of beige, cinnamon, and umber bled into the blue sky, depending on which direction the wind blew. The people, the land, the buildings absorbed the dust. All other colors leached away, while brown and its infinite variations remained.” But she doesn’t stop there; she elicits all of the senses.
Lowenstein Introduces characters and quickly develops them through vivid yet sparse description, unique and powerful action and authentic and specific dialogue to have an immediate impact in the story. The heroes and heroines (and there are many) are flawed and the villains are three dimensional. There’s a grittiness, spirit, and elegance that makes you gradually fall in love with Etha. She’s impulsive, fiery and loyal, the kind of gal you want in your corner for life...forever! This makes the tension that starts early on between her and her husband, Sherriff Temple excruciating. The tension between the protagonists and antagonists are also ever-mounting and the suspense is palpable.
Rainmaker reminds of The Hunger Games in that it never stops punching, there’s something on every page, a twist, a turn, a reveal, a beautiful passage, something to make you laugh, cry, smile, or shake your head in disbelief. It never lets up. I was torn between putting this book down to savor, so it would never end or not being able to put it down because it’s so damn good. Things are never what they seem. The story is told with fluid but limited point of view that allows the reader to see the whole story unfold but through the eyes of the major players, keeping you dead center of the story.
There’s a musical scene where Etha plays the piano along with a harmonica-armed Carmine that moves the soul as music should.
From Dish Nights to the Civilian Conservation Corps to Will Rogers and Leo Durocher, the history is solid and with viable well-crafted suspects, the mystery is smart, not contrived. In short, Rainmaker easily goes in my top ten of all-time, maybe top five, and highly recommended. Prediction: Film adaption and academy award nominee for best cinematography. This one has just that kind of potential.
“In Oklahoma, the palette was nothing but brown. Brown bridal trains of dust billowed behind tractors. Curtains turned from white to strong coffee. Folks spit river mud after a duster. Washes of beige, cinnamon, and umber bled into the blue sky, depending on which direction the wind blew. The people, the land, the buildings absorbed the dust. All other colors leached away, while brown and its infinite variations remained.” But she doesn’t stop there; she elicits all of the senses.
Lowenstein Introduces characters and quickly develops them through vivid yet sparse description, unique and powerful action and authentic and specific dialogue to have an immediate impact in the story. The heroes and heroines (and there are many) are flawed and the villains are three dimensional. There’s a grittiness, spirit, and elegance that makes you gradually fall in love with Etha. She’s impulsive, fiery and loyal, the kind of gal you want in your corner for life...forever! This makes the tension that starts early on between her and her husband, Sherriff Temple excruciating. The tension between the protagonists and antagonists are also ever-mounting and the suspense is palpable.
Rainmaker reminds of The Hunger Games in that it never stops punching, there’s something on every page, a twist, a turn, a reveal, a beautiful passage, something to make you laugh, cry, smile, or shake your head in disbelief. It never lets up. I was torn between putting this book down to savor, so it would never end or not being able to put it down because it’s so damn good. Things are never what they seem. The story is told with fluid but limited point of view that allows the reader to see the whole story unfold but through the eyes of the major players, keeping you dead center of the story.
There’s a musical scene where Etha plays the piano along with a harmonica-armed Carmine that moves the soul as music should.
From Dish Nights to the Civilian Conservation Corps to Will Rogers and Leo Durocher, the history is solid and with viable well-crafted suspects, the mystery is smart, not contrived. In short, Rainmaker easily goes in my top ten of all-time, maybe top five, and highly recommended. Prediction: Film adaption and academy award nominee for best cinematography. This one has just that kind of potential.
September 4, 2018
Though “A DUST BOWL MYSTERY” is part of the title of this novel, that’s a debatable genre. There is a murder early on, and an investigation follows. In typical mystery form, the killer’s identity isn’t revealed until the final pages. This crime and it’s solution is the focus of this book, but set in the small community of Vermillion, Oklahoma (and I have no idea if this city ever existed or is mythical) during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, it could just as easily be considered “historical fiction”. To me, however, this is a story of a small community dealing with the hardships of the time. Characters are vividly described such as Chester, the blind man who owns the movie theater and Temple, the sheriff who moved to Oklahoma after surviving the Johnstown Flood. The book is also permeated by memory of the dead son of Temple and his wife.
Loewenstein beautifully describes the geography and the people and brings the period to life. I was slightly annoyed by the melodramatic ending after Loewenstein so skillfully avoided sentimentality through the rest of the novel, but I was still impressed enough by Loewenstein’s writing that I was compelled to order a copy of her first novel before I finished this one.
Loewenstein beautifully describes the geography and the people and brings the period to life. I was slightly annoyed by the melodramatic ending after Loewenstein so skillfully avoided sentimentality through the rest of the novel, but I was still impressed enough by Loewenstein’s writing that I was compelled to order a copy of her first novel before I finished this one.
December 24, 2018
What a great surprise this book was. Sentence by sentence, it is LOVELY and very literary, while the plot holds up with an engaging mystery, super characters, and beautiful historical treatment. Looking forward to the next one in the series.
October 18, 2018
One of the best books I have ever read is Timothy Egan's The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. Reading that book fostered an interest in this period of history, so when I heard about Laurie Loewenstein's first Dust Bowl mystery, Death of a Rainmaker, I had to read it. I am thrilled to say that it's an excellent fictional companion piece to Egan's history.
Loewenstein peoples her story with one believable character after another. From thirteen-year-old Maxine trying desperately to impress the young deputy, to Temple Jennings forced to keep the peace at foreclosed farms that are being auctioned off, to his wife Etha who still mourns the death of their son, to Lovell the lonely schoolteacher, these people are real and step right off the page.
So does the setting. The local movie theater is reduced to having "Dish Nights" in order to stay open. (Plunk down your nickel to see a movie and receive a free piece of china-- a different piece every week.) There are teenage boys thrown out of their homes because there are too many mouths to feed, and they're now working for the Civilian Conservation Corps. The down-and-out living in Hoovervilles out in the woods. A young woman ashamed of the fact that her family still lives in a soddy. And the ever-present dust and dirt: "Dunes rippled across the highway as if the denuded land were trying to draw a blanket over its naked limbs."
Loewenstein's characters live-- and try to breathe-- in Death of a Rainmaker, and while the reader is being drawn into this wonderfully drawn setting, there is the mystery of the murder to solve. Etha Jennings is a good-hearted woman who is determined to prove a young boy's innocence. She makes plenty of mistakes and she certainly upsets her husband, but the unfolding of her character is a fine sight to behold. With Loewenstein's excellent misdirection, the solution to the murder is very satisfying, and now I'm left waiting impatiently for a second Dust Bowl mystery. Historical mystery lovers really need to get their hands on this book.
Loewenstein peoples her story with one believable character after another. From thirteen-year-old Maxine trying desperately to impress the young deputy, to Temple Jennings forced to keep the peace at foreclosed farms that are being auctioned off, to his wife Etha who still mourns the death of their son, to Lovell the lonely schoolteacher, these people are real and step right off the page.
So does the setting. The local movie theater is reduced to having "Dish Nights" in order to stay open. (Plunk down your nickel to see a movie and receive a free piece of china-- a different piece every week.) There are teenage boys thrown out of their homes because there are too many mouths to feed, and they're now working for the Civilian Conservation Corps. The down-and-out living in Hoovervilles out in the woods. A young woman ashamed of the fact that her family still lives in a soddy. And the ever-present dust and dirt: "Dunes rippled across the highway as if the denuded land were trying to draw a blanket over its naked limbs."
Loewenstein's characters live-- and try to breathe-- in Death of a Rainmaker, and while the reader is being drawn into this wonderfully drawn setting, there is the mystery of the murder to solve. Etha Jennings is a good-hearted woman who is determined to prove a young boy's innocence. She makes plenty of mistakes and she certainly upsets her husband, but the unfolding of her character is a fine sight to behold. With Loewenstein's excellent misdirection, the solution to the murder is very satisfying, and now I'm left waiting impatiently for a second Dust Bowl mystery. Historical mystery lovers really need to get their hands on this book.
February 24, 2019
I loved this book and will definitely read more of the series. This is a mystery, not a thriller and it does not move along at a lightening pace. Rather it is like relaxing in a comfy chair on a Sunday afternoon and watching an old Gary Cooper movie. Excellent!
March 20, 2019
3,5
A cut above most mystery. I loved the way she captured the place and the period.
A cut above most mystery. I loved the way she captured the place and the period.
November 1, 2018
Death of a Rainmaker is a beautiful novel. Murder mysteries are often pulp genre pieces, but Laurie Loewenstein subverts expectations and provides us with the nuance and beautiful writing of a literary novel and the suspense and excitement of a mystery.
When a rainmaker is murdered in a small Oklahoma town during the hard times of the Depression Dust Bowl period his death and the search for his murderer show us many strata of small town life and the people who live in Vermillion, Loewenstein's fictional town.
The author realizes the period and its people is such loving detail that it's hard to believe that she didn't live through it herself. It's a cliché to say that this writer brings history to life, but even trite sayings are sometimes true, and this one is about this book. Loewenstein brings such verisimilitude to her creation we could swear we were living in 1935 Oklahoma ourselves.
The tag, a Dustbowl Mystery, leads us to expect more books in the series. Her wonderful sheriff, Temple Jennings, and his wife can certainly star in many further books about the hardscrabble life in Oklahoma of the period, and I am looking forward to them teaming up to solve the crimes Loewenstein must already be planning in her fertile,detailed, and always generous imagination.
I enthusiastically recommend this book.
When a rainmaker is murdered in a small Oklahoma town during the hard times of the Depression Dust Bowl period his death and the search for his murderer show us many strata of small town life and the people who live in Vermillion, Loewenstein's fictional town.
The author realizes the period and its people is such loving detail that it's hard to believe that she didn't live through it herself. It's a cliché to say that this writer brings history to life, but even trite sayings are sometimes true, and this one is about this book. Loewenstein brings such verisimilitude to her creation we could swear we were living in 1935 Oklahoma ourselves.
The tag, a Dustbowl Mystery, leads us to expect more books in the series. Her wonderful sheriff, Temple Jennings, and his wife can certainly star in many further books about the hardscrabble life in Oklahoma of the period, and I am looking forward to them teaming up to solve the crimes Loewenstein must already be planning in her fertile,detailed, and always generous imagination.
I enthusiastically recommend this book.
November 9, 2018
An entertaining read. The background for this novel is the dust bowl in Oklahoma in the 1930's and its effects upon the land and people living there. There are also some interesting references about the Johnstown floods in Pennsylvania. The writing is folksy and the characters interesting, if not well developed. The mystery itself is slow developing and muddled by lots of gossip.
August 20, 2020
Loewenstein has done an excellent job of setting the scene in the 1930's dustbowl of Oklahoma. The community is desperate for rain, and the local Merchants' Association hires a rainmaker (think Burt Lancaster in a black outfit). The rainmaker sets off a lot of TNT and then gets himself killed outside the local moving picture theatre. The sheriff and his deputy have to get to the bottom of it in the midst of a contentious primary with a black-heart opponent and the local CCC involved.
Great characters and a nice puzzle.
I was just kidding about Burt Lancaster. This rainmaker is a portly, badly-dressed huckster without great red hair.
Great characters and a nice puzzle.
I was just kidding about Burt Lancaster. This rainmaker is a portly, badly-dressed huckster without great red hair.
August 31, 2021
The 1930's in Oklahoma was a dusty dry time of draught and dust storms. A couples times I actually felt the dirty, dry atmosphere and got thirsty reading about the storms of dust that slammed into towns and buried them in dirt.... it reminded me of snow drifts but with dirt.
Yuck.
What a hard life.
This story brought the dusty atmosphere to life for me, but the characters were also so well written, and I absolutely loved Etha. I loved her affection for Carmine and her way of dealing with her Sherriff husband. This was a very good story.
Yuck.
What a hard life.
This story brought the dusty atmosphere to life for me, but the characters were also so well written, and I absolutely loved Etha. I loved her affection for Carmine and her way of dealing with her Sherriff husband. This was a very good story.
dnf
July 12, 2019Lots of descriptive writing and well-fleshed characters, but on the whole flat. One of those books that demonstrates how hard being a really good writer is because technically, is all seems there, but it’s just not. Gave up at 120 pages.
July 18, 2019
This was a really good mystery, with well developed multi-layered plot, and great characters. The setting is western Oklahoma, during the depression, and in the midst of months of drought and life-threatening dust storms.
June 21, 2021
Couldn’t put the book down
I became instantly invested in the characters, and the story. The dust bowl was brought to life in the pages. A must read!
I became instantly invested in the characters, and the story. The dust bowl was brought to life in the pages. A must read!
August 20, 2022
Historical fiction as it is supposed to be writtern, in my humble opinion. I loved the way it intertwines the real history of the Great Depression, CCC camps, dust bowl, and a small town mystery. The character development is wonderful. It reminds me of Longmire, only set during the 30s. I loved it and will look for more of Loewenstein's titles.
October 6, 2023
3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. The story definitely got better as the book continued. An interesting part of history-Dust Bowl.
February 21, 2023
The author does a good job of describing the horrors of the dust bowl and the heartbreak of families losing everything to the drought. Temple and Etha are well drawn characters and if I were innocent I’d want Etha on my side to prove me innocent. To me, the ‘mystery’ was secondary to the lives of these people in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl.
April 20, 2025
The author paints an amazing picture of life during the depression in the dustbowl. The characters are developed well, and it's a good mystery of who the murderer is.
September 3, 2019
Really wanted a good mystery and this one was on the NPR list of best books of 2018. Now I’m worried about all of the books they have listed. There’s no real mystery here. There’s some soft struggles taking place. But don’t worry, everything turns out just fine in the end. Everything.
January 6, 2025
3.75. A nice sense of place and time.
November 1, 2018
When times turn desperate, tensions rise, and people start seeking an outlet for their suffering. In this sense, the Depression-era Dust Bowl feels like a classic setting for a murder mystery, although surprisingly few authors have taken advantage of it.
Here, just like in her first novel, Unmentionables, Laurie Loewenstein offers vivid storytelling and a fine eye for evoking small-town life in America’s heartland.
In August 1935, it’s been 240 days since the last rainfall, and the leading citizens of Vermillion, Oklahoma, the seat of Jackson County, seek out hope where they can find it. Roland Coombs arrives in town with promising testimonials to his skills in enticing clouds to let loose their precious drops of water. But less than a day after he shoots shells packed with TNT into the heavens, his body is found in the alley next to the Jewel Movie House, lying under a pile of dirt after an intense dust storm.
The need to solve the crime creates difficulties for longtime sheriff Temple Jennings, who’s up for re-election shortly. He’s also under pressure to start foreclosure proceedings against the Fullers, a hardworking farm couple who’d tried hard to make a go of their land but failed, thanks to the weather. When circumstances lead Temple to pinpoint Carmine, a young man from the nearby CCC camp, as the rainmaker’s murderer, the decision raises unease in those closest to him.
The novel excels in depicting characters and relationships. Temple and his wife, Etha, are devoted to one another, but Etha sees qualities of her late son in Carmine and has reason to believe him innocent. Having lost a child, Etha is horrified by stories of families forcing their older children to leave home since they can’t feed them any more. Then there’s Temple’s deputy, Ed McCance, an earnest former CCCer who doesn’t want the organization’s name tarnished. Just when you think the plot is heading in one direction, the crime’s resolution comes as a surprise.
There are some quirky local traditions, such as the “rarely used” (per Etha) small jail cell in a corner of the Jenningses’ kitchen, and a host of personalities depicted without stereotype, including Chester Benton, the blind and dapper theater owner disgruntled by how the murder leads to lost sales.
The atmosphere of Dust Bowl Oklahoma seeps through the pages, and the descriptions of these tough times become yet stronger when they're made personal: the “worn and brittle” men inhabiting a once-prosperous rooming house, a former destination for westward dreamers, and a family’s daisy-patterned china, the plates they ate on every day, now “nothing more than secondhand plates to some stranger, wiped clean of meaning.”
First published at Reading the Past.
Here, just like in her first novel, Unmentionables, Laurie Loewenstein offers vivid storytelling and a fine eye for evoking small-town life in America’s heartland.
In August 1935, it’s been 240 days since the last rainfall, and the leading citizens of Vermillion, Oklahoma, the seat of Jackson County, seek out hope where they can find it. Roland Coombs arrives in town with promising testimonials to his skills in enticing clouds to let loose their precious drops of water. But less than a day after he shoots shells packed with TNT into the heavens, his body is found in the alley next to the Jewel Movie House, lying under a pile of dirt after an intense dust storm.
The need to solve the crime creates difficulties for longtime sheriff Temple Jennings, who’s up for re-election shortly. He’s also under pressure to start foreclosure proceedings against the Fullers, a hardworking farm couple who’d tried hard to make a go of their land but failed, thanks to the weather. When circumstances lead Temple to pinpoint Carmine, a young man from the nearby CCC camp, as the rainmaker’s murderer, the decision raises unease in those closest to him.
The novel excels in depicting characters and relationships. Temple and his wife, Etha, are devoted to one another, but Etha sees qualities of her late son in Carmine and has reason to believe him innocent. Having lost a child, Etha is horrified by stories of families forcing their older children to leave home since they can’t feed them any more. Then there’s Temple’s deputy, Ed McCance, an earnest former CCCer who doesn’t want the organization’s name tarnished. Just when you think the plot is heading in one direction, the crime’s resolution comes as a surprise.
There are some quirky local traditions, such as the “rarely used” (per Etha) small jail cell in a corner of the Jenningses’ kitchen, and a host of personalities depicted without stereotype, including Chester Benton, the blind and dapper theater owner disgruntled by how the murder leads to lost sales.
The atmosphere of Dust Bowl Oklahoma seeps through the pages, and the descriptions of these tough times become yet stronger when they're made personal: the “worn and brittle” men inhabiting a once-prosperous rooming house, a former destination for westward dreamers, and a family’s daisy-patterned china, the plates they ate on every day, now “nothing more than secondhand plates to some stranger, wiped clean of meaning.”
First published at Reading the Past.
January 21, 2021
I read this because my wife was reading it for book club. Plus the idea intrigued me–a mystery story set in a piece of history rooted in Americana. I had never heard of it, the author, or the publishing company before. But I thought I could use a break from the robots and aliens.
The thing is, it’s just tedious. The characters are dull as dishwater. There’s no intensity to the mystery. There’re no stakes. It’s as dry as the dust bowl it’s telling about.
The thing about a mystery book is that bad mysteries contain large swaths of text that don’t matter to the plot. In a good mystery, the entire story is the mystery, not side characters or subplots. Knives Out, The Da Vinci Code, The Maltese Falcon, The Silence of the Lambs, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Even the false leads, the red herring, still matter to the plot.
So for example, this book has a suspect. They spend time investigating them, thinking he’s the killer, but then it turns out to be wrong. And the audience knows this all the time. So you feel like you wasted time reading that part. It’s not dramatic irony, it’s page filler. This feels more like a regular book that got labeled “mystery” for marketing purpose. Maybe that’s why I don’t read them — I don’t like plot threads that end at a wall.
In a mystery, all the parts are important. Finding evidence A leads to talking to suspect B who points a finger at witness C who we find out was with D who lied about artifact E which suspect B wants and so on. It should be “buts” and “therefores”, not “and thens”. I don’t mean it has to be a complex web, but “Garfield’s Babes and Bullets” was a more intriguing mystery than this.
This book is for old ladies who just want a comfort read. They don’t want anything surprising or challenging. There’s no diversity in the book–no black people, no immigrants, no one ethnic, no Native Americans, no gays, no Jews. Just loud, white males and one white female (the wife of the investigating sheriff).
Oh, there is one blind guy who runs the theater, so I guess you can check off “disability”. Thing is, he’s an asshole, so it’s not exactly glorious representation. Not to mention he doesn’t figure into the story whatsoever. He’s not even a B-plot, he’s a C-plot. I’m not sure what role he’s meant to play? The struggling entrepreneur during the time of economic hardship?
I would rate it three stars, but my judgment criteria means I wouldn’t bring anything two stars or below to a desert island with me. And I wouldn’t bring this with me — I don’t want to read it again.
The thing is, it’s just tedious. The characters are dull as dishwater. There’s no intensity to the mystery. There’re no stakes. It’s as dry as the dust bowl it’s telling about.
The thing about a mystery book is that bad mysteries contain large swaths of text that don’t matter to the plot. In a good mystery, the entire story is the mystery, not side characters or subplots. Knives Out, The Da Vinci Code, The Maltese Falcon, The Silence of the Lambs, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Even the false leads, the red herring, still matter to the plot.
So for example, this book has a suspect. They spend time investigating them, thinking he’s the killer, but then it turns out to be wrong. And the audience knows this all the time. So you feel like you wasted time reading that part. It’s not dramatic irony, it’s page filler. This feels more like a regular book that got labeled “mystery” for marketing purpose. Maybe that’s why I don’t read them — I don’t like plot threads that end at a wall.
In a mystery, all the parts are important. Finding evidence A leads to talking to suspect B who points a finger at witness C who we find out was with D who lied about artifact E which suspect B wants and so on. It should be “buts” and “therefores”, not “and thens”. I don’t mean it has to be a complex web, but “Garfield’s Babes and Bullets” was a more intriguing mystery than this.
This book is for old ladies who just want a comfort read. They don’t want anything surprising or challenging. There’s no diversity in the book–no black people, no immigrants, no one ethnic, no Native Americans, no gays, no Jews. Just loud, white males and one white female (the wife of the investigating sheriff).
Oh, there is one blind guy who runs the theater, so I guess you can check off “disability”. Thing is, he’s an asshole, so it’s not exactly glorious representation. Not to mention he doesn’t figure into the story whatsoever. He’s not even a B-plot, he’s a C-plot. I’m not sure what role he’s meant to play? The struggling entrepreneur during the time of economic hardship?
I would rate it three stars, but my judgment criteria means I wouldn’t bring anything two stars or below to a desert island with me. And I wouldn’t bring this with me — I don’t want to read it again.
December 27, 2018
Interesting story, setting and characters, but this novel would have benefited from some heavy editing (repetitious phrases, meandering side stories, etc.).
September 30, 2018
Ol' timey mysteries are usually something that I find should stay in the past (like polio and dial up), but Death of a Rainmaker was an excellent story for any decade.
Loewenstein is an incredible storyteller whose words are so vivid they practically blew off the pages like dust in the Midwestern wind. Every scene was perfectly captured so that you could hear the TNT bursting, feel the heat and dust, smell the fried chicken.
It followed the outline of your typical mystery. Nothing was surprising or original as far as the plot, (it was pretty easy to guess the killer) but it was still one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a while.
Temple Jennings, Vermillion's sheriff, was the perfect 1930's lawman. Steady, unwavering, stubborn. I imagined him as Sam Elliott-esque with the long, deep drawl. His determination for justice and support of the down-and-outers was heartwarming, even when he didn't make the most perfect decisions.
Even the conflict between Temple and his wife, Etha, was remarkable. In a day and age where healthy relationships and arguing are rare, the Jennings are a breath of fresh air. Regardless of their disagreement, they still managed to love each other and remain respectful.
The relationship between Etha and Carmine was what I enjoyed most about the story. Back in a time when women were to be the dutiful housewife, Etha takes it upon herself to prove Carmine's innocence. She proves that women are just as insightful and capable as she finds evidence that was skipped over by her husband and his deputy.
There is so much minutia in this story that really brings everything together. It is a genuinely well-crafted novel. I enjoyed it from the first chapter through the last and look forward to more from Loewenstein.
Loewenstein is an incredible storyteller whose words are so vivid they practically blew off the pages like dust in the Midwestern wind. Every scene was perfectly captured so that you could hear the TNT bursting, feel the heat and dust, smell the fried chicken.
It followed the outline of your typical mystery. Nothing was surprising or original as far as the plot, (it was pretty easy to guess the killer) but it was still one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a while.
Temple Jennings, Vermillion's sheriff, was the perfect 1930's lawman. Steady, unwavering, stubborn. I imagined him as Sam Elliott-esque with the long, deep drawl. His determination for justice and support of the down-and-outers was heartwarming, even when he didn't make the most perfect decisions.
Even the conflict between Temple and his wife, Etha, was remarkable. In a day and age where healthy relationships and arguing are rare, the Jennings are a breath of fresh air. Regardless of their disagreement, they still managed to love each other and remain respectful.
The relationship between Etha and Carmine was what I enjoyed most about the story. Back in a time when women were to be the dutiful housewife, Etha takes it upon herself to prove Carmine's innocence. She proves that women are just as insightful and capable as she finds evidence that was skipped over by her husband and his deputy.
There is so much minutia in this story that really brings everything together. It is a genuinely well-crafted novel. I enjoyed it from the first chapter through the last and look forward to more from Loewenstein.
August 30, 2021
I don’t give many 5 star ratings, this one is a keeper. Please also read Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Time, nonfiction about the dust bowl which inspired this book. Also 5 stars and utterly fascinating.
February 12, 2019
There are thousands of mystery novels out there, with professional and amateur detectives. A quick look at http://www.stopyourekillingme.com (my favorite source for mystery information) reveals over five thousand authors and hundreds of categories. You can find mysteries featuring detectives who are social workers, photographers, divers, dancers and vintners, and which are set on every continent—including Antarctica.
What is it that sets Laurie Loewenstein's new novel, Death of a Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery, apart? Set in Oklahoma during the Depression, her story has a familiar framework—a stranger in town is murdered. Suspects abound, and the sheriff, with the unwelcome aid of his wife, sets out to find the killer.
Fair enough. Loewenstein, however, does not focus so much on "who dunnit" as on "who are these people and how did they come to this?" Sure, she peppers the book with clues, red herrings, twists and turns, but more importantly, she sets the stage expertly, then creates characters who resonate through the decades.
Her main character, Etha Jennings, is the wife of Sheriff Temple Jennings. They've been in Vermillion, Oklahoma, for fifteen years, yet Etha still feels like an outsider, especially because Temple is facing a nasty primary election fight. The roots she thought she had established feel increasingly fragile. When Roland Coombs, the rainmaker of the title, is murdered and suspicion lands on Carmine DiNapoli, a young man at the Civilian Conservation Corps—the "CCC"—Etha is convinced of the young man's innocence and is determined to prove it.
Etha is a complex character, stubborn, driven and sometimes blind to things around her, as well drawn as many other of Loewenstein's characters. From the adolescent ticket seller whose vanity leads to Carmine's arrest, to the sightless theatre owner who is blind to his woman friend's devotion to Eddie, a deputy struggling with his first law enforcement job—the book is full of characters who jump from the page, fully drawn, even if they are onstage for just a short time.
Looming over this small town and its citizens is the terrible specter of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. We all learned in history (and from Steinbeck) about the "Okies" and their troubles, but Loewenstein makes them as real as the troubles that face them.
The enormity of the disaster which has befallen the region has driven the town to a kind of madness. Their world is swept away with dust storms, their economic security gone as the Depression deepens. Farmers and townspeople grasp at straws, seduced, in part, by Temple's rival who promises the farmers better treatment, while he supports the banks who take their land and brags that his connections in the state house will rid the townspeople of the drifters who beg for food and work. The absurdity of these pledges is lost in the desperation of the times. They put their scarce money into the rainmaker's fireworks display, which is as useless as thinking a town sheriff can ease the Depression's grip.
In one telling scene, a stunned family watches as their farmstead is being auctioned by the bank, their possessions sold for pennies. Yet the wife secretly longs to be rid of the farm and out of the filthy swirl of Oklahoma. When their neighbors band together to save the farm, she is not relieved, but outraged, driving off with her children, splitting the family, probably forever. The farm is a bad investment, financially and emotionally, but her husband cannot let go and she cannot stay.
Another powerful moment involves a jackrabbit drive, in which thousands of animals are herded into a three-acre pen, then beaten with clubs, shovels and bats into livestock feed, as if the jackrabbits were the cause of their woes. It's a bloody, brutal scene which captures the impotent rage of farmers and townspeople. Loewenstein's description of the sea of fur, the frenzy of the attackers, and the pitiful cries of the animals sears the vision into the reader's mind. Anyone, it seems, can be whipped up enough to murder.
Full of fascinating side stories, the book is a bit too neat in tying up all the various plot threads, a common trait of mysteries. Still, the richness of the setting and characters make this a terrific read and a fine piece of historical fiction.
by D Ferrara
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
What is it that sets Laurie Loewenstein's new novel, Death of a Rainmaker: A Dust Bowl Mystery, apart? Set in Oklahoma during the Depression, her story has a familiar framework—a stranger in town is murdered. Suspects abound, and the sheriff, with the unwelcome aid of his wife, sets out to find the killer.
Fair enough. Loewenstein, however, does not focus so much on "who dunnit" as on "who are these people and how did they come to this?" Sure, she peppers the book with clues, red herrings, twists and turns, but more importantly, she sets the stage expertly, then creates characters who resonate through the decades.
Her main character, Etha Jennings, is the wife of Sheriff Temple Jennings. They've been in Vermillion, Oklahoma, for fifteen years, yet Etha still feels like an outsider, especially because Temple is facing a nasty primary election fight. The roots she thought she had established feel increasingly fragile. When Roland Coombs, the rainmaker of the title, is murdered and suspicion lands on Carmine DiNapoli, a young man at the Civilian Conservation Corps—the "CCC"—Etha is convinced of the young man's innocence and is determined to prove it.
Etha is a complex character, stubborn, driven and sometimes blind to things around her, as well drawn as many other of Loewenstein's characters. From the adolescent ticket seller whose vanity leads to Carmine's arrest, to the sightless theatre owner who is blind to his woman friend's devotion to Eddie, a deputy struggling with his first law enforcement job—the book is full of characters who jump from the page, fully drawn, even if they are onstage for just a short time.
Looming over this small town and its citizens is the terrible specter of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. We all learned in history (and from Steinbeck) about the "Okies" and their troubles, but Loewenstein makes them as real as the troubles that face them.
The enormity of the disaster which has befallen the region has driven the town to a kind of madness. Their world is swept away with dust storms, their economic security gone as the Depression deepens. Farmers and townspeople grasp at straws, seduced, in part, by Temple's rival who promises the farmers better treatment, while he supports the banks who take their land and brags that his connections in the state house will rid the townspeople of the drifters who beg for food and work. The absurdity of these pledges is lost in the desperation of the times. They put their scarce money into the rainmaker's fireworks display, which is as useless as thinking a town sheriff can ease the Depression's grip.
In one telling scene, a stunned family watches as their farmstead is being auctioned by the bank, their possessions sold for pennies. Yet the wife secretly longs to be rid of the farm and out of the filthy swirl of Oklahoma. When their neighbors band together to save the farm, she is not relieved, but outraged, driving off with her children, splitting the family, probably forever. The farm is a bad investment, financially and emotionally, but her husband cannot let go and she cannot stay.
Another powerful moment involves a jackrabbit drive, in which thousands of animals are herded into a three-acre pen, then beaten with clubs, shovels and bats into livestock feed, as if the jackrabbits were the cause of their woes. It's a bloody, brutal scene which captures the impotent rage of farmers and townspeople. Loewenstein's description of the sea of fur, the frenzy of the attackers, and the pitiful cries of the animals sears the vision into the reader's mind. Anyone, it seems, can be whipped up enough to murder.
Full of fascinating side stories, the book is a bit too neat in tying up all the various plot threads, a common trait of mysteries. Still, the richness of the setting and characters make this a terrific read and a fine piece of historical fiction.
by D Ferrara
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
January 16, 2019
August 2, 1935
Jackson County, Oklahoma
"As soon as [Chester] pulled open the outside door [of the theater] he heard a faint thrumming of wind that resembled the plucking of thick guitar strings… ‘A duster!, Maxine shouted… ‘Tall as a mountain! Oh my God! I’ve never seen one this big!’"
Vermillion, Oklahoma in 1935. The Great Depression has strangled the economy of the area and now an unending dry season is destroying the greatest source – the land. The helpless residents face the perfect storm of poverty and an angry earth.
The population of the area is a mishmash of down-on-their-luck souls. Alongside the farms and ranches is a squatters camp down near the train tracks. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camp is nearby; a collection of young men from all over the country gathered near Vermillion for a chance at a job by the government. As in any community, there are the more fortunate families who live a different anxiety – fearful of the unfortunate. It is a jittery and suspicious time for all.
Everyone, rich or poor, has an individual life story that began somewhere else. Vermillion provided abundance and a good living for four generations. By 1935, no one finds Vermillon a haven. The Great Depression had knocked many to their knees. The eight months of drought that year, finished off those who depended on the earth for their livelihood.
Rain, at this point, is their only solution. Rain would keep the farmers and ranchers on their homesteads and bring commerce to town. Believing that desperate times do call for desperate measures, a small group of merchants cobble together the last of their savings and hire a charlatan who convinces them he knows how to make it rain.
Roland Coombs, their hired Rainmaker, struts into town like a conquering hero; a larger than life superhero to some and a distasteful miscreant to others who believe he is taking advantage of a desperate situation to line his pockets. Claiming he learned his technique in the military, he uses massive rounds of TNT blasted into the sky to make the atmosphere unstable. Only time will tell.
The skeptical and the hopeful join the boisterous and arrogant Rainmaker at the blasting site setting up camp on the ground with their picnic baskets and blankets. The crowd watch in awe as the night sky explodes over and over, louder and more illuminating than the Fourth of July.
Everyone leaves in the dark of night hopeful and wakes to find the next day like every other; dry and gritty. Disappointed farmers stared at their barren fields and discouraged merchants stare at their front doors hoping for business.
In the dire circumstances, folks looked for whatever small pleasures could ease their pain. One popular source of relief came at the local movie theater run by the blind owner, Chester. The other is drinking away the misery at the local bar.
The day after the Rainmaker blasted the sky, Chester readies things for that day’s movie, hoping to sell enough tickets to pay the rent. Maxine, Chester’s teenage ticket taker refills the candy shelves and opens the ticket booth for the matinee.
Sheriff Temple Jennings’ day begins alongside his new deputy, a former CCC worker with a healthy dose of work ethic. Today, Mr. Hodges, visibly upset, complains nothing is being done about the continuing visits of a peeping Tom at his house. The Sheriff learns of a fight the previous night between the Rainmaker Coombs and one of the CCC boys at the local bar. These things will have to wait. He has to perform his least favorite job – keeping the peace at the auction of a foreclosed farm.
Out of sight, an enormous dust storm has formed on the town’s outskirts and is barreling their way. The catastrophic storm catches everyone unprepared and people are forced to take shelter best they can. In the hours after the storm blows through, the clean-up begins. Chester, feeling his way through the storm’s aftermath, begins to remove the sand blocking the emergency exit of his theater. He discovers the body of a man and presumes he died of suffocation. Sheriff Jennings determines it is the Rainmaker, Roland Coombs, and he was bludgeoned to death during the storm. The town jumps to the immediate conclusion that the young CCC worker was the murderer.
As the sheriff and his deputy conduct their investigation, personal secrets are exposed and a political campaign takes a malignant turn threatening the Sheriff’s job. The characters remind us that we often judge a person through the lens of preconceived notion. Some people overcome their worst instincts and find themselves better for it. Others dig in and reject the truth staring them in the face.
As the investigation proceeds, Sheriff Jennings believes in the young man’s guilt and the CCC worker is arrested. His wife is not so sure that the murderer has been found. As she begins her own investigation, their marriage is tested. She befriends the prisoner and listens to his story with an open mind. Another part of her recognizes that she is transferring her feelings as she has mourned the death of her own son.
Someone in town during the storm murdered the Rainmaker. The mystery, when solved, will surprise you. Along the way you will fall in love with some of the people and reject the false friendships of others. In the end, you will find a piece of happily ever after.
An excellent story revealing that ordinary life continues amid a larger national tragedy.
Enjoyed the read and look forward to more by this author.
Jackson County, Oklahoma
"As soon as [Chester] pulled open the outside door [of the theater] he heard a faint thrumming of wind that resembled the plucking of thick guitar strings… ‘A duster!, Maxine shouted… ‘Tall as a mountain! Oh my God! I’ve never seen one this big!’"
Vermillion, Oklahoma in 1935. The Great Depression has strangled the economy of the area and now an unending dry season is destroying the greatest source – the land. The helpless residents face the perfect storm of poverty and an angry earth.
The population of the area is a mishmash of down-on-their-luck souls. Alongside the farms and ranches is a squatters camp down near the train tracks. A Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) work camp is nearby; a collection of young men from all over the country gathered near Vermillion for a chance at a job by the government. As in any community, there are the more fortunate families who live a different anxiety – fearful of the unfortunate. It is a jittery and suspicious time for all.
Everyone, rich or poor, has an individual life story that began somewhere else. Vermillion provided abundance and a good living for four generations. By 1935, no one finds Vermillon a haven. The Great Depression had knocked many to their knees. The eight months of drought that year, finished off those who depended on the earth for their livelihood.
Rain, at this point, is their only solution. Rain would keep the farmers and ranchers on their homesteads and bring commerce to town. Believing that desperate times do call for desperate measures, a small group of merchants cobble together the last of their savings and hire a charlatan who convinces them he knows how to make it rain.
Roland Coombs, their hired Rainmaker, struts into town like a conquering hero; a larger than life superhero to some and a distasteful miscreant to others who believe he is taking advantage of a desperate situation to line his pockets. Claiming he learned his technique in the military, he uses massive rounds of TNT blasted into the sky to make the atmosphere unstable. Only time will tell.
The skeptical and the hopeful join the boisterous and arrogant Rainmaker at the blasting site setting up camp on the ground with their picnic baskets and blankets. The crowd watch in awe as the night sky explodes over and over, louder and more illuminating than the Fourth of July.
Everyone leaves in the dark of night hopeful and wakes to find the next day like every other; dry and gritty. Disappointed farmers stared at their barren fields and discouraged merchants stare at their front doors hoping for business.
In the dire circumstances, folks looked for whatever small pleasures could ease their pain. One popular source of relief came at the local movie theater run by the blind owner, Chester. The other is drinking away the misery at the local bar.
The day after the Rainmaker blasted the sky, Chester readies things for that day’s movie, hoping to sell enough tickets to pay the rent. Maxine, Chester’s teenage ticket taker refills the candy shelves and opens the ticket booth for the matinee.
Sheriff Temple Jennings’ day begins alongside his new deputy, a former CCC worker with a healthy dose of work ethic. Today, Mr. Hodges, visibly upset, complains nothing is being done about the continuing visits of a peeping Tom at his house. The Sheriff learns of a fight the previous night between the Rainmaker Coombs and one of the CCC boys at the local bar. These things will have to wait. He has to perform his least favorite job – keeping the peace at the auction of a foreclosed farm.
Out of sight, an enormous dust storm has formed on the town’s outskirts and is barreling their way. The catastrophic storm catches everyone unprepared and people are forced to take shelter best they can. In the hours after the storm blows through, the clean-up begins. Chester, feeling his way through the storm’s aftermath, begins to remove the sand blocking the emergency exit of his theater. He discovers the body of a man and presumes he died of suffocation. Sheriff Jennings determines it is the Rainmaker, Roland Coombs, and he was bludgeoned to death during the storm. The town jumps to the immediate conclusion that the young CCC worker was the murderer.
As the sheriff and his deputy conduct their investigation, personal secrets are exposed and a political campaign takes a malignant turn threatening the Sheriff’s job. The characters remind us that we often judge a person through the lens of preconceived notion. Some people overcome their worst instincts and find themselves better for it. Others dig in and reject the truth staring them in the face.
As the investigation proceeds, Sheriff Jennings believes in the young man’s guilt and the CCC worker is arrested. His wife is not so sure that the murderer has been found. As she begins her own investigation, their marriage is tested. She befriends the prisoner and listens to his story with an open mind. Another part of her recognizes that she is transferring her feelings as she has mourned the death of her own son.
Someone in town during the storm murdered the Rainmaker. The mystery, when solved, will surprise you. Along the way you will fall in love with some of the people and reject the false friendships of others. In the end, you will find a piece of happily ever after.
An excellent story revealing that ordinary life continues amid a larger national tragedy.
Enjoyed the read and look forward to more by this author.
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