Chickahominy Fever: A Civil War Mystery [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Ann McMillan (Author), Kimberly Schraf (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2003

Books on Tape Collector's Edition- 7 tapes. A Civil War Mystery In Chickahominy Fever, Ann McMillan combines suspense with elegant Civil War period detail and brings to life a cast of characters from every echelon of Southern society. In the summer of 1862, the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, is reeling from the brutal Seven Days Battle. Its hospitals are already overflowing. In the mounting confusion, Narcissa Powers begins to suspect foul play in a hospital ward. Morphine, the only relief for the brutally injured, is disappearing. And after a mysterious "patient" dies suspiciously, tension mounts. Soon, Narcissa and her old friend, Judah Daniel, with their British journalist ally Brit Wallce are drawn into a tangled web of spies, traitors, and uncertain loyalties. "A rollicking good mystery and meticulously researched slide of history."(RIchmond Times Dispatch)

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Books on Tape (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736693025
• ISBN-13: 978-0736693028
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,648,805 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann McMillan was born in Columbus, Georgia, and lives in Richmond, Virginia.

Ann's Civil War mystery short story, Castle Thunder, is now available on Kindle. Like her novels, the story tells a dramatic story of what might have happened against a scrupulously researched historical background -- in this case, the infamous Confederate prison.

"Please Dispose Of Properly" -- a short story with a modern setting (inspired by a trip to the Hanover County dump) -- appears in They Had It Comin' (Chesapeake Crimes IV).

Ann's four Civil War mystery novels set in Richmond weave together three points of view: Narcissa Powers, a white widow who becomes a Confederate nurse; Judah Daniel, a free black doctoress; and Brit Wallace, a British war correspondent.

Each novel has a medical theme. Dead March tells what happens when the "sack-'em-up boys" who rob graves to supply the medical school with cadavers dig up a murder victim. Angel Trumpet involves the hallucinogenic effects of datura poisoning. In Civil Blood, smallpox-tainted money wreaks havoc on those too greedy to destroy it, as well as the innocent with whom their lives intersect. Chickahominy Fever infects its heroine with malaria.

For more information, including a bibliography, see Ann's website, civilwarmystery.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another terrific mystery, October 16, 2003

By 

An avid reader (Rockville, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chickahominy Fever (Civil War Mystery) (Hardcover)

Ann McMillan continues her poignant, thrilling mystery series with this book, her fourth. Always a clever plotter and a careful researcher, she grows bolder with her use of major historical figures, and to good effect. "Chickahominy Fever" opens at night in Confederate President Jefferson Davis's office. The Union army is nearing Richmond's door. Before the first scene is done we have a wonderful slice of Davis's tortured character, a keen sense of the political and philosophical pressure applied by a former Virginia governor now commanding troops, and the beginnings of a spy plot that propels the story to its remarkable finish. McMillan navigates with practiced sureness among the whites, slaves and free blacks of Civil War Richmond. She takes us from the wards of Richmond's sprawling Chimborazo hospital to the chaotic battlefields of the 7 Days, from high-society parlor rooms to life among working blacks. Her major characters, already cherished from the earlier books, continue to evolve and fascinate. And once again she populates the book with a memorable secondary cast. Another terrific mystery. Can't wait for the next.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just what I expected, January 11, 2007

By 

Allen S. Kearns Jr. "Southern Gentleman" (Stanley, VA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chickahominy Fever: A Civil War Mystery (Hardcover)

I love Civil War Mysteries and this one did not dissappoint

5.0 out of 5 stars Civil War, July 13, 2009

By 

Lyn Reese (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chickahominy Fever: A Civil War Mystery (Paperback)

It is June, 1862, and war has come to Richmond Virginia. Under siege by General McClellan's surrounding Union troops, the residents face shortages, deaths, and looming fears of destruction. Betrayals abound as well; not everyone wants the South to win.

Strong characters with diverse and often conflicting views drive McMillan's plot. There is the wealthy abolitionist who plans to use a revealing letter, stolen from the home of Jefferson Davis, to pressure President Lincoln into freeing the slaves. There are freed slaves, escaping slaves, a slightly crazed mother grieving for her son and husband killed in battle, an English journalist, a suspicious Confederate lieutenant on the lookout for spies, a genial young doctor, and the citizenry pressed into service to tend the broken bodies carried from the "hell erupting from the fields of Virginia."

The primary protagonists, however, are a nurse, Narcissa Powers, and free black, Judah Daniel, who join forces to search for a mysteriously missing Confederate soldier and the mother of an abandoned infant. Unfortunately these mysteries lack focus and suspense; too often the story line gets lost in the complicated plot and narrations of the multiple characters. It's better to read "Chickahominy Fever" for its insight into Civil War battles, the appalling lack of sanitation and rough surgical techniques employed in the hospitals, and the devastating effects of diseases, such as "Chickahominy Fever," or malaria. And, above all, for the effects of siege on the lives of Richmonders in this stressful, soul searching time.

This is Ann McMillan's fourth Civil War mystery featuring Narcissa Powers and Judah Daniel. Her "afterward" gives us information about the historical characters and sites used in the story, as well as her ambivalence as to who was traitor and who a hero.

Civil War buffs might also enjoy Ann Perry's book "Slaves of Obsession," featuring investigator William Monk and his wife Hester, a nurse who had worked alongside Florence Nightingale in the Crimea. Perry gives us views on the war from Britain and on its flourishing gun dealing trade. As well there is a great description of Washington D.C. as it mobilizes for war, and of the battle of Bull Run.