Death of a Rainmaker Lib/E: A Dust Bowl Mystery(1 Dust Bowl Mysteries Lib/E)

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 Temple'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 eight-year-old 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. When the investigation closes in on Carmine, Temple's wife, Etha, quickly becomes convinced of his innocence and sets out to prove it. But Etha's own probe soon reveals 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.

About the Author :
Laurie Loewenstein grew up in the flatlands of western Ohio and now resides in Rochester, New York, where Susan B. Anthony was arrested for voting in 1872. Emily Sutton-Smith, a film and television actress, is an AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator.

Review :
"A jewel of a novel. The scenes and characters are so vivid and alive that you forget that the Internet and interstate roads haven't been around forever. Loewenstein is a born storyteller who writes scholarly based page-turners...It's a read you won't forget." -- "John Bowers, author of Love in Tennessee" "An authentic tale of the drought-stricken southern plains, and a lovingly and eloquently told murder mystery. It is not only the unfolding plot and the metaphorical obscuring of truth by dust, but Loewenstein's masterful prose--with its tender language and skillful resonance--that will captivate readers and keep them enthralled. Death of a Rainmaker is both a gripping tale of murder and a glimpse into resilience and love in a time of savage loss, scarcity, and fear." -- "Leslie Schwartz, author of The Lost Chapters" "Beautifully captures the devastation of the land and people in the Dust Bowl." -- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)" "Laurie Loewenstein takes your breath away. Her haunting and vivid prose deftly describes the opening chords of a dust storm that left families sick with dust pneumonia or dead broke. In this gripping tale of a sheriff searching for a killer in a dying town, Loewenstein rounds up characters with true grit, cunning, and kindness." -- "Mary Kay Zuravleff, author of Man Alive!" "Laurie Loewenstein's vivid Death of a Rainmaker is at once an engrossing yarn, an elegant inquiry into human desperation, and a portrait of Depression-era America so searingly authentic that the topsoil practically blows off each page." -- "Louis Bayard, author of The Pale Blue Eye" "Loewenstein's sensitive treatment of these dark days in the Dust Bowl era offers little humor but a whole lot of compassion." -- "New York Times Book Review" "Reading Death of a Rainmaker is like slipping through time right into a 1930s black-and-white movie...Laurie Loewenstein has a knack for writing the early twentieth century. I sure hope this is a series, because I'm smitten." -- "Robin Oliveira, author of The Winter Sisters"