Marjorie Trumaine is a farmer’s wife living outside the small town of Dickinson, North Dakota in 1964. Marjorie is a skilled researcher and professional indexer, someone who is used to finding information on a topic and categorizing it. She’s working on a project for a publisher when Sheriff Hilo Jenkins arrives with horrifying news. Neighbors and good friends, Erik and Lida Knudsen, have been gruesomely murdered in their bed. While there are no apparent suspects, Jaeger and Peter, young sons of the Knudson’s, were in the house at the time of the murders.
Dickinson, being a small town, has very little crime and murder is unheard of, so the Sheriff asks Marjorie for help with the investigation by researching an amulet with unusual markings that he found in the hand of Erik. She reluctantly agrees, hoping only to have to spend a few hours in town doing the research.
While Marjorie is working on the project for the Sheriff, she feels as though she’s being watched. She first notices it at the town library, then later at the college while visiting her cousin Raymond. She becomes nervous about having the amulet in her possession. When another murder occurs and then an attempt is made to run her off the road, Marjorie realizes she has to do more than research . . . she needs to find the murderer before she becomes the next victim.
Sweazy writes vivid descriptions of this small North Dakota town. Marjorie is a likable character, she’s smart and kind with a strong backbone. The mystery has enough surprises to keep the reader satisfied.
