The happy juxtaposition of A History of the Canadian Dollar by James Powell (Bank of Canada, December 2005) and “Counterfeiting: A Rochester Way to Wealth” by Gerard Muhl (The Crooked Lake Review, Spring 2002) seemed to naturally present a plot twist.
And once again, the historical Thaddeus Lewis spoke to the fictional Thaddeus Lewis when I returned to the Lewis autobiography of 1865 for details of The Great Baptism Debate.
Thanks go to my agent, Robert Lecker; my editor, Allison Hirst; and, as always, my husband, Rob, for his enormous patience. And a special thank-you to the many dogs who have shared my life over the years and who proved such wonderful models for the faithful Digger.
More Thaddeus Lewis
Mysteries by Janet Kellough
Sowing Poison
After many years, Nathan Elliott returns to Wellington, Ontario, to be at his dying father’s side. Within a few days of his return, he is reported missing, and no trace of him can be found. Shortly after, Nathan’s wife arrives in the village. Claiming that she can contact the dead, she begins to hold séances for the villagers. Thaddeus Lewis, a Methodist circuit rider, is outraged, and his ethical objections propel him on a journey to uncover the truth about the Elliotts. Religious conflict and political dissension all play a part in this tale set in 1844 Upper Canada.
On the Head of a Pin
Thaddeus Lewis, an itinerant “saddlebag” preacher, still mourns the mysterious death of his daughter Sarah as he rides to his new posting in Prince Edward County. When another girl in the area dies in a similar way, he realizes that the circumstances point to murder. But in the turmoil following the 1837 Rebellion, he can’t get anyone to listen. Convinced there is a serial killer loose in Upper Canada, Lewis alone must track the culprit across a colony convulsed by dissension, invasion, and fear.
47 Sorrows
When the bloated corpse of a man dressed in women’s clothing washes up on the shore of Lake Ontario, a small scrap of green ribbon is found on the body. The year is 1847, and one hundred thousand Irish emigrants have fled to Canada to escape starvation in their homeland. But the emigrants bring with them the dreaded “ship’s fever,” and soon the ports are overflowing with the sick and dying. Itinerant preacher Thaddeus Lewis’s son Luke, an aspiring doctor, volunteers in the fever sheds in Kingston. When he finds a green ribbon on the lifeless body of a patient, he is intrigued by the strange coincidence. Young Luke enlists his father’s help to uncover the mystery, a tale of enmity that began back in Ireland.
The Burying Ground
Someone is digging up the graves at the Strangers’ Burying Ground in Toronto — the final resting place of criminals, vagrants, indigents, and alcoholics — and the only person who seems to care is the sexton, Morgan Spicer. The authorities are unconcerned; after all, for years the growing village of Yorkville has been clamouring to have the bodies moved and the Burying Ground closed.
The distraught Spicer enlists the aid of his old friend Thaddeus Lewis, who has unexpectedly returned to preaching on the Yonge Street Circuit. The graveyard’s secrets lead Lewis and his son Luke into the hidden heart of 1851 Toronto where they discover a trail of corruption and blackmail tied to an old sexual scandal and a dangerous enemy intent on vengeance.
Copyright © Janet Kellough, 2016
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All characters in this work are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Editor: Allison Hirst
Design: Laura Boyle
Cover Design: Courtney Horner
Ebook Design: Carmen Giraudy
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Kellough, Janet
Wishful seeing / Janet Kellough.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-1-4597-3537-8 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-4597-3538-5 (pdf).-- ISBN 978-1-4597-3539-2 (epub)
I. Title.
PS8621.E558W57 2016 C813’.6 C2015-908174-2- C2015-908175-0
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