The Sorrowful Girl
(2023)(The first book in the Liam Barrett Gilded Age series)
A novel by Keenan Powell
Liam Barrett embodied the hopes and dreams of his family, bound for Harvard Law School. When his father unexpectedly dies, he gives up his plans and goes to work providing for his family in Adams, Massachusetts. As a policeman who abhors violence and who possesses an ability to calm agitated people, he strives to mediate disputes and keep peace in his community.
When a young Adams woman is found murdered near the estate of mill owner Alistair Cunningham, Cunningham pressures Liam to make a quick arrest. But Liam wants justice. As he fights to ensure that an innocent man is not railroaded, Liam uncovers a sinister plot forcing him to choose between his pacifist conviction and his duty to protect his town.
Part social history, part adventure, part murder mystery, part family saga, THE SORROWFUL GIRL is a pacy and absorbing tale of rough men and flinty women carving out their lives despite sectarianism, injustice and corruption. The hurtle towards the final showdown is irresistible. CATRIONA McPHERSON, multi-award-winning author of In Place of Fear
Keenan Powell’s The Sorrowful Girl takes us on a compelling visit to western Massachusetts in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Liam Barrett, honor-bound and decent lawman, battles anti-Irish prejudice, corrupt police, and scheming robber barons as he searches for answers in the murder of a young Catholic girl. Desperate to escape her humble origins and bleak future, Deirdre Monaghan dares to dream of a better life, but meets her tragic end in a dark wood instead. Echoes of Celtic myths whisper through the Berkshires in this powerful historical mystery. The Sorrowful Girl packs an emotional wallop. Damn good! —JAMES ZISKIN, author of the Anthony, Barry, and Macavity award-winning Ellie Stone mysteries
Powell’s ability to create an explosive plotline focused on solving a crime is evidenced in her inclusion of the tenor of the time and location to add authenticity to the narrative, quickly immersing readers into the sinister nature of this murder and building to a shocking conclusion. - Booklife Editor's Pick Review
Genre: Historical
When a young Adams woman is found murdered near the estate of mill owner Alistair Cunningham, Cunningham pressures Liam to make a quick arrest. But Liam wants justice. As he fights to ensure that an innocent man is not railroaded, Liam uncovers a sinister plot forcing him to choose between his pacifist conviction and his duty to protect his town.
Part social history, part adventure, part murder mystery, part family saga, THE SORROWFUL GIRL is a pacy and absorbing tale of rough men and flinty women carving out their lives despite sectarianism, injustice and corruption. The hurtle towards the final showdown is irresistible. CATRIONA McPHERSON, multi-award-winning author of In Place of Fear
Keenan Powell’s The Sorrowful Girl takes us on a compelling visit to western Massachusetts in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Liam Barrett, honor-bound and decent lawman, battles anti-Irish prejudice, corrupt police, and scheming robber barons as he searches for answers in the murder of a young Catholic girl. Desperate to escape her humble origins and bleak future, Deirdre Monaghan dares to dream of a better life, but meets her tragic end in a dark wood instead. Echoes of Celtic myths whisper through the Berkshires in this powerful historical mystery. The Sorrowful Girl packs an emotional wallop. Damn good! —JAMES ZISKIN, author of the Anthony, Barry, and Macavity award-winning Ellie Stone mysteries
Powell’s ability to create an explosive plotline focused on solving a crime is evidenced in her inclusion of the tenor of the time and location to add authenticity to the narrative, quickly immersing readers into the sinister nature of this murder and building to a shocking conclusion. - Booklife Editor's Pick Review
Genre: Historical
Used availability for Keenan Powell's The Sorrowful Girl