Tim Euston was willing to risk his life for his nation’s independence and his opportunity came when a murder involved him with smugglers and spies.
It was 1777, the third year of the War for Independence, and the town of Yonkers was at the south end of the Neutral Ground – a no man's land that separated the British on Manhattan Island from the Americans to the north.
On a cold January night, Tim was thrown in jail – accused of robbery by the man who had hold of Tim’s fourteen-year-old sister. Two days later a witness who could testify to Tim’s innocence was found dead from a blow to the head. The testimony of boys was enough to get him out of jail but the father of one was not so lucky. He was wrongly convicted for the death of Tim’s only adult witness.
Who was the killer? Those with motives had alibis. And besides, there were many who just did not care. Both the man killed and the man punished were drunkards. But Tim Euston cared. These men were his friends. Tim wanted justice and he swore to keep looking until the real killer was identified. But then things got complicated.
In Tim and the Highway Robbery, second in the Tim Euston Series of murder mysteries set in the American Revolution, Tim finds a dead body, and while he and his friend Dan are suspecting each other of murder and treason, they stumble upon two renegade redcoats who draw them into a plot to “seize” highly valuable munitions off of a British Army base.
It was May of 1777, the beginning of the third year of the American War for Independence, on territory controlled by the British. In the back of a general store Tim had just found the body when the proprietor burst in, accusing him of murder. Tim got away, went to a judge, and claimed the dead man was a rebel spy. Tim said he got a good look at the murderer and that the victim’s last words were “Sam Baker,” the name of a notorious rebel spy. Tim got himself off the hook but he had just volunteered to assist the enemy, an odd position for a boy who was already spying for George Washington.
Tim and Dan had been about to cross over to New Jersey to join the Continental Army and make it into an elite unit before the war was over. But then Dan showed Tim a pair of pistols he had somehow acquired on the day of the murder. And why should Dan trust Tim, now that he has volunteered to serve a tory judge?
They were still wondering when they met up with the renegade redcoats.
Read Tim and the Highway Robbery
In Tim's Excessive Good Fortune, third in the Tim Euston Series of murder mysteries set in the American Revolution,Tim is chosen as ensign in a new regiment, but his remarkable good fortune is called excessive good fortune when those who envy him try to get him wrongfully convicted of murder.
It was June 1777, the beginning of the third year of the American War for Independence. In the New Jersey town that housed George Washington’s headquarters, Tim Euston was in a barn with his violin, practicing a favorite of the base commander’s wife. A lieutenant who already hated Tim came in, looked around, and found the murdered corpse of a military hero. When the commander arrived, with a Captain Poole, they teased Tim, saying that he is the prime suspect. Only a few days before Tim had impressed Poole with his knowledge of military training, law and strategy. In a moment of drunken enthusiasm Poole had named Tim the new ensign to the company he commanded, bypassing older and better qualified local men. Many were surprised and angry to see such an honor go to a 17-year-old from faraway Boston. Some even suspected Tim to be both an assassin and an enemy spy. He had gone from the luckiest boy in town to the unluckiest. Tim will have to identify the murderer, or he may be exchanging his officer’s commission for a hangman’s noose.
Look at what’s #4 on this list !?!
Amid the Battles of Saratoga in the third year of the American Revolution, Tim Euston has to defend the lovely Betty-May from those who can profit from her wrongful conviction for murder.
It is September 1777 in upstate New York. Tim Euston (age 17) is minding two little boys while they help their Uncle Martin harvest. But in the distance they can hear cannon fire from what must be a major battle. Someone calls Martin away. Minutes later Tim hears a gunshot. The hired man comes running to tell them Martin needs help. Back at the house he dies in the arms of his wife, Betty-May. She is young, beautiful and eight months pregnant. Tim’s deep compassion does not appear to be shared by her four in-laws who had been driven south by the British invasion force. Just days before, Tim had come to join up and fight but had broken his arm. Now he is unfit for service and one of several suspects in a sordid crime. Tim and Betty-May were close by the scene. Her in-laws can profit from her conviction, especially the one named as guardian to her unborn child. To prove himself innocent, Tim has to stay and defend the widow. This can only be achieved by finding evidence that can convict the real murderer. And Tim has to do it all before the killer can silence the sleuth.
Tim Euston (17) and his sister Sadie (16) are invited by his new friend, war hero Denny (18) to pass the winter with a family that might include enemy sympathizers and spies, and maybe a murderer whose crime could be pinned on Tim.
November 1777, the third year of the American Revolution, upstate New York. Four slaves beat the woods to drive deer to where four Sweet siblings wait with rifles. Tim finds the eldest on the ground, his head bleeding. A bloody stick would have made a handy club. The attacker could be either of four duos: Denny with Tim, the male slaves, the female slaves, or the two other siblings.
Back in the house Tim charms Alice, a lovely young neighbor. She tells of recent deaths and Tim has his hand on her arm when he sees a dirty look coming at him from the injured eldest. Later Tim hears good news and bad. The siblings are true to the Patriot cause but the mother blamed deaths on the Revolution and remains loyal to the King. Worse, Alice will soon be bride to the eldest. Another incident renews speculation and again the same four pairs are suspect. Tim’s obvious desire for Alice will make him a convenient scapegoat. After the wedding Tim learns that the siblings have hated each other. Are they plotting to settle old scores and reducing potential heirs, and all the while directing suspicion on Tim?
July 2021. Southwest Arizona, close to Tucson. In an office trailer, Mike finds Brad, a fellow engineer, lying in his own blood. Minutes later, Mike's daughter Jean listens in when their boss Sarah says Cactex, the developer, is worried about media attention. Legal action and protests could cause very costly delays. Only the engineers are supposed to understand the purpose of all the laser-guided drills, saws and pneumatic chisels hidden behind 30 stories of scaffolding and tarps. Jean finds an illustration of a statue: 70-foot faces of Andrew Jackson, Herbert Hoover, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump will gaze down over a vast hotel resort complex. Jean and Jenny are engineering students from Glendale, California. They were undecided on election day and they debate whether Trump truly deserves to be among these four presidents. Everyone is surprised when Jenny is arrested for Brad's murder. She’s too scared to act, but Jean is too angry not to. But there’s a problem. The person that Jean and Jenny suspect is overheard talking about the need for an additional death. But even that won’t stop Jean, and it’ll take romance and gunfire to lead the reader to the explosive last chapter.
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