“In tavernmistress Abigail Lawrence, Karen Swee creates a heroine as warm and piquant as mulled wine. But watch out – she packs a wallop!”
            -- Ann McMillan, author of Civil Blood, Death March, and other Civil War mysteries


“Karen Swee had created a perfect blend of history and mystery! The American Revolution has never seemed so personal or entertaining. Abigail, Mistress of Raritan Tavern, is such an endearing character, readers are sure to demand encores.”
            -- Robin Hathaway, winner of the Agatha award for Best First Mystery, author of Scarcrow, The Doctor Dines in Prague, and other Dr. Fenimore books.


“This is an impressive debut. An imaginative plot, compelling central character, and lucid prose should place it in the top ranks of the year’s best historical mysteries. Bravo, Ms. Swee!”
            -- Miriam Grace Monfredo, winner of the 200- Career Achievement Award for Historical Mystery Writing from Romantic Times, author of the Seneca Falls Historical Mystery Series and the Trilogy of Cain Civil War books.


“I liked this story. Read it.”
            -- Jonathan Gash, author of the Lovejoy Mystery Series (and TV series), Bone Dancing, The Possessions of a Lady, and others.

PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
11/24/03

LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF MURDER: A Revolutionary War Mystery
Karen Swee. Bridge Works, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 1-882593-78-2; $15.95 paper -81-2.

In Swee’s engaging first novel, set in British-occupied New Jersey in 1777, the widow Abigail Lawrence is trying to raise a teenage daughter and operate a busy tavern amid the tumult of the American Revolution. When Abigail finds the body of a guest pinned to the floor of his room with a British army sword, she’s not too stunned to note that the bloodstains on the weapon are inconsistent with the wound having been the cause of death. The local English officers take a keen interest in the murder after Abigail discovers that the dead man was carrying letters addressed to no other than George Washington and John Hancock. With a minimum of historical detail, the author nicely evokes the period. While readers will probably put the pieces of the puzzle together long before the heroine does, no doubt Abigail will hone her sleuthing skills in later installments of what promises to be a fine series. (Jan.1)

Forecast: The novel setting (the publisher claims to have found no other mystery set during the Revolution in America), blurbs from Miriam Grace Monfredo and Ann McMillan (both authors of Civil War mysteries), and an author tour focused on mid-Atlantic Revolution sites should draw an army of historical mystery fans.

ALA BOOKLIST
12/01/03

LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF MURDER: A Revolutionary War Mystery
Karen Swee. Bridge Works, $23.95 (320p) ISBN 1-882593-78-2; $15.95 paper -81-2.

Debut novelist Swee introduces Abigail Lawrence, a Revolutionary War-era widow and tavern mistress with a decided flair for solving the most difficult of puzzles. After a guest is found literally skewered to the floor in her inn, patriot Abigail is determined to unmask the murderer. Of course, nothing is as simple as it seems, and she is soon caught up in a web of espionage and counterespionage as British and American spies vie for a valuable packet of letters secreted by the dead man. When Abigail’s family is endangered, she must match wits with an intriguing and attractive stranger in order to protect her loved ones from the ever-suspicious Captain Edward Phillips, one of the British officers occupying the town of New Brunswick, New Jersey. Touted as the only historical mystery set during the Revolutionary War, this authentically detailed whodunit features a feisty heroine willing to take risks and make sacrifices for both her family and her fledgling country.
           -- Margaret Flanagan.


KIRKUS REVIEWS
11/01/03

“It’s 1777, Tavernmistress Abigail Lawrence, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, balances the needs of occupying redcoats and revolutionary spies as deftly as a tray full of brimming tankards.

The British Army has taken over most of the rooms in Abigail’s tavern, and the soldiers bring the results of their foraging missions, armed raids on neighboring farms, to her kitchen for cooking. Though she strives to maintain an appearance of neutrality, ner beloved uncle, flamboyant scamp Samuel Holt, sympathizes with the rebels, and her teenage daughter, Beth flirts dangerously with British officers. Then George Fenton Lee, a wealthy Philadelphia merchant, is found murdered in his room, a British officer’s sword pinning hin to the floor, and Abigail’s balancing act gets nore dangerous. The British take a mysterious interest in the man but refuse to help the American constable investigate. The woman Lee spent the night with, supposedly his wife, has disappeared with their two horses. When one of the horses returns, riderless, Abigial pockets the documents she finds in the saddlebags. Two of them, addressed to General George Washington, are promptly stolen from her. After the British, flailing, arrest Uncel Samuel for Lee’s murder, Abigail must find the missing letters to save her uncle and, it turns out, shield the real murderer.

Solid work in a debut better than the cutesy title suggests.”
           -- Kirkus Reviews