Wednesday, October 30, 2013

What is Sandra Dallas reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Sandra Dallas, author of Fallen Women.

Her entry begins:
I’m half-way through Destiny of the Republic by Candice Millard, the story of the murder of President James Garfield by the madman Charles Guiteau. It’s my husband’s book, and I picked it up by default. My sister said once that hell for us is being someplace without a book. Since there was nothing else in the house to take with me on a trip, I chose this book. Besides, I’d heard that Guiteau’s former wife had a Colorado connection and was curious about that. Destiny of the Republic is a superb history/biography of Garfield and of the delusional Guiteau, who thought...[read on]
About the book, from the publisher:
From the ballrooms and mansions of Denver’s newly wealthy, to the seamy life of desperate women, Fallen Women illuminates the darkest places of the human heart.

It is the spring of 1885 and wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen has been estranged from her younger sister, Lillie, for a year when she gets word from her aunt and uncle that Lillie has died suddenly in Denver. What they do not tell her is that Lillie had become a prostitute and was brutally murdered in the brothel where she had been living. When Beret discovers the sordid truth of Lillie’s death, she makes her way to Denver, determined to find her sister’s murderer. Detective Mick McCauley may not want her involved in the case, but Beret is determined, and the investigation soon takes her from the dangerous, seedy underworld of Denver’s tenderloin to the highest levels of Denver society. Along the way, Beret not only learns the depths of Lillie’s depravity, but also exposes the sinister side of Gilded Age ambition in the process.

Sandra Dallas once again delivers a page-turner filled with mystery, intrigue, and the kind of intricate detail that truly transports you to another time and place.
Learn more about the book and author at Sandra Dallas's website and Facebook page.

Writers Read: Sandra Dallas (May 2011).

Writers Read: Sandra Dallas.

--Marshal Zeringue