Killing Down the Roman Line

Book excerpt: You go back far enough, every family’s got blood on its hands. Three miles down the Roman Line, you’ll find the old Corrigan house, empty for decades, the sight of an unspeakable crime that has been long forgotten. Until now, when a stranger rolls into town claiming to be a long lost Corrigan. Inviting the locals to a tour of the derelict property, the stranger regales the townsfolk with a gruesome tale of how his family was slaughtered by an armed mob. The murderers, he claims, were the ancestors of everyone assembled before him. Jeered as a fraud, the man’s claims are dismissed but doubts linger over what happened all those years ago. Dissent grows as the stranger agitates for retribution and long dead feuds reignite. Caught in the middle is Jim Hawkshaw, a struggling farmer living near the old house. As he digs for the truth, Jim is forced to choose sides when the locals decide to take matters into their own hands and punish the outsider for his lies. While the town prepares for its first heritage festival, a band of vigilantes march on the old Corrigan house to exact revenge but this time... this time the Corrigans are ready for them. Author's Note: This book is an historical mystery based on a true crime in late 19th Century Canada. The infamous Black Donnellys were murdered by their enemies and, despite two separate trials, no one was ever convicted. Killing Down the Roman Line is a contemporary re-imagining of this tale of revenge, murder, mystery, vigilante justice and the hidden secrets of a small country town.