Customer Reviews

The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis

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The first item a person must relize is that this book is a Historical Novel. In other words, it is based on facts but the author takes liberty by creating a story line. This book deals with the death of the great explorer Meriwether Lewis. However, the only fact the author uses is that Mr Lewis died at Grinder Stand in Tennessee, it seems he decided to just take this sole fact and just make up the rest. The plot is simple enough. Two old friends of Meriwether Lewis decide they have nothing better to do than to become detectives and attempt to find the killer (or killers) of Mr. Lewis. Even though this might seem a simple plot, the author is determined to make it even more complicated by throwing numerous names at the reader until finally at one point this reviewer actually had to stop and reread almost half the book. Even though any level of historian will discover the numerous historical errors he or she will still be shocked at the final statement the author makes. That is "the Majority of historians, today, agree Lewis was killed". This statement is completely unfounded and actually makes this reviewer question the ability of the author to look past his own humerous fiction! Even though there will always be a need for accurate historical research on the death of Meriwether Lewis, this book does not fill the void. The author seems to forget that Meriwether Lewis was placed under arrest while in Memphis because of his numerous suicide attempts while on the Mississippi. It is a shame the author wasted this grand opportunity to create a sloppy work of fiction.

A thoroughly engaging read, filled with historical interest, amazing characters, and a story line that makes an all night read inevitable. Scenes of St. Louis fur trade politics and US Army collapse in 1812 campaign in Great Lakes theater were fascinating. I was stunned at the elegance and complexity of the dialogues between the characters--a new high in sophistication. Burns meant to write a mystery with a backdrop of historical events. It is not an historical opus. Question: Did Meriwether get drugged throughout this book, did he have malaria, or was he unbalanced? Author does not answer these possibilities.