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Into the Suffering City: A Novel of Baltimore (Sarah Kennecott and Jack Harden Mysteries Book 1) Kindle Edition
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Baltimore, 1909. Sarah Kennecott is a brilliant young doctor who cares deeply about justice for murder victims. She also has a habit of displeasing powerful men and getting into trouble. After getting fired for looking too closely into the killing of a showgirl, she refuses to back down from the investigation.
Sarah forms a promising partnership with Jack Harden, a street-smart private detective struggling with terrible memories. They have much in common: Both defiant. Both independent. Both regarded as a bit unusual. Sarah gathers evidence in gilded mansions and fancy ballrooms. Jack follows leads into Baltimore's seedy underworld, a vitally corrupt realm of saloons, brothels, and burlesque theaters. When Sarah and Jack pull the pieces together, they discover a stunning pair of secrets worth killing to keep.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateApril 15, 2020
- Grade level12 and up
- File size4615 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Seamlessly weaves culture, history, and mystery into this novel's surprising twists and complex characters. Clear prose, intricate plotting, and likable leading characters combine to form an engrossing mystery." --Blueink Review (Starred Review)
"Balancing complex character quirks, mysterious emotional baggage, surprising buried secrets, and riveting action sequences, Into the Suffering City is a knockout historical thriller."
--SP Review
"A multilayered, entertaining mystery that introduces a promising pair of detectives. The author maintains suspense throughout ... [with] seamless integration of vivid details of daily life in 1909, unflinching portrayal of the sexism and racism of the time, and evocation of the era's sounds, smells, and tastes." --Kirkus Reviews
"Fans of the murder mystery genre will recognize all the elements of a great whodunit - and still won't be able to predict all of the novel's twists and turns. The story is enhanced by the original and authentic leads." --The Booklife Prize
From the Author
The second event was the birth of my first child, who is autistic. His experience in the world is unique, and I thought it would be fascinating to apply a perspective like that to a fictional character. We hear quite a bit these days about autism but it isn't dealt with all that much in fiction. My character, Sarah Kennecott, also struggles for acceptance as a medical doctor at a time when professional women faced many barriers, not the least of which was opposition from professional men.
Much as I liked showing Sarah using her brains and boldness to cope with her situation, I also very much enjoyed having my other protagonist, Jack Harden, travel within the city's seedy underbelly of barrooms, carberets, and brothels. No respectable lady would go near any of these places in 1909, and Jack takes the reader to whole different world.
About the Author
Bill has graduate degrees from the University of Maryland and has worked at the Maryland Historical Society, Baltimore City Archives, National Archives and Records Administration, and the Library of Congress. He has learned much from his children and grandchildren, including grace, patience, emotional connection, and the need to appreciate different perspectives from those on the autism spectrum and with other personality traits that are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or unexplained.
Product details
- ASIN : B083D5DG93
- Publisher : High Kicker Books (April 15, 2020)
- Publication date : April 15, 2020
- Language : English
- File size : 4615 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 328 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #207,585 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,169 in Historical Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction
- #1,952 in Historical Mysteries (Kindle Store)
- #3,082 in Historical Mystery
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Bill LeFurgy is a professional historian and archivist who has studied the gilded glamor and seamy underbelly of urban life. He has put his years of research experience into writing gritty historical fiction about Baltimore, where he lived for over a decade. It remains his favorite city.
While working at the Library of Congress, Bill headed a national program to preserve digital cultural heritage materials. In addition, he toured the world to speak to hundreds of libraries, archives, and museums about digital cultural heritage.
Before the Library, Bill served as Manager of the Modern Records Program at the National Archives and Records Administration and as Baltimore City Archivist. He also worked as Manuscript Archivist at the Maryland Historical Society.
Bill has a Batchelor of Arts degree from McGill University and graduate degrees from the University of Maryland. In addition to his Sarah Kennecott and Jack Harden Historical Mysteries Series, he has published many nonfiction books and articles about Baltimore history and other topics.
He has learned much from his family, including grace, patience, emotional connection, and the need to appreciate different perspectives from those on the autism spectrum and with other personality traits that are undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or unexplained.
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With a polished sense of inciting the reader’s curiosity, LeFurgy opens his novel with a most disturbing ‘epigraph’ that quotes Dante’s Inferno (“Through me the way into the suffering city…”) that hints at the book’s title, as well as an excerpt from Maryland’s 1904 Code against miscegenation that is most jarring!
The book opens in 1909 as we meet Sarah – ‘Dr. Sarah Kennecott scanned the dead girl’s naked body. The corpse had a small bullet wound near the heart. The right side of the forehead had a son-inch gash over a swollen, purplish bruise, and dark material clustered underneath fingernails of the right hand. A shallow quarter-inch cut marked the top knuckle of the left index finger. The upper lip had a slight bulge. Sarah new exactly how to proceed with the postmortem examination – if she were in charge. Which she most definitely was not. With difficult, she broadened her awareness to include the three men also standing around the autopsy table. ‘Do not make eye contact,’ she told herself as her pulse sprinted. ‘Do control the tics. Do not offend the men. Stay out of trouble.’ In that terse moment the core of the story is revealed as well as the unique personality traits of Sarah, a person on the autism spectrum – an important adjunct to this story. And soon we meet Jack Harden, who fits the signals of PTSD.
The author’s synopsis provides clues to the story’s plot: ‘Baltimore, 1909. Sarah Kennecott is a brilliant young doctor who cares deeply about justice for murder victims. She also has a habit of displeasing powerful men and getting into trouble. After getting fired for looking too closely into the killing of a showgirl, she refuses to back down from the investigation. Sarah forms a promising partnership with Jack Harden, a street-smart private detective struggling with terrible memories. They have much in common: Both defiant. Both independent. Both regarded as a bit unusual. Sarah gathers evidence in gilded mansions and fancy ballrooms. Jack follows leads into Baltimore's seedy underworld, a vitally corrupt realm of saloons, brothels, and burlesque theaters. When Sarah and Jack pull the pieces together, they discover a stunning pair of secrets, each of which is worth killing to keep.’
Writing of this impressive quality in a debut book is rare indeed. Bill LeFurgy enters the genre of historical fiction with a flourish – a gift that hopefully he will continue to share with further novels! He has much to teach us. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, July 20
Nick Harden is a down on his luck PI, who gets hauled in to the Pinkerton Agency by the police. There he meets Shaw, who is running for mayor and a prime suspect in Lizzie's murder. He also encounters Sarah.
It is 1909 and Baltimore politics are corrupt; the police are violent thugs on the take; and the city's poor, colored, and immigrant population are more often than not ignored and crimes against them are rarely investigated. When Sarah is dismissed from her job at the Pinkerton Agency and Nick is told that his services as a PI are no longer needed, they decide to team up to solve the murder.
LeFurgy does several things in this first book in a series:
1. He creates for his reader sensory imagery of Baltimore in the first decade of the Twentieth Century that makes the city as it was in 1909, real in the reader's mind.
2. He creates two main characters faced with societal prejudices against people who are different. Readers today quickly come to understand that Sarah is on the autism spectrum and that Nick has PTSD. In addition to Sarah's neurological differences, she is a female pathologist.
3. He sets his story firmly in the historical, cultural, and societal scenery that impacts the motives and actions of each character.
4. And lastly, unless you're a really good detective yourself, you probably won't figure out who really murdered Lizzie until the end.
Top reviews from other countries

It is 1909, and the world caters to a patriarchal society. The author incorporated this into the book with accuracy and ease. It is best demonstrated through Sarah. She is on the spectrum for autism but is a lady of high society. Many shun her for her odd quirks and odd habits. Her educated status worsens how she is treated, as not many ladies were educated in 1909. Her workplace is dominated by men who often disregard her opinion because of her gender. Challenging this inequality, Sarah is unfazed and puts herself out there, molding herself into a modern woman.
The second protagonist of the story is Jack. He is a man trying to make ends meet while being haunted by ghosts from his past. Both characters are very relatable, and the story is more enjoyable because of them. The two click and have an amusing contrast. Jack is more streetwise of the two and is socially skilled. Sarah is the opposite but is very intelligent and knowledgeable in her field of study. Together the two make an unusual and yet very capable team.
The book vividly brings the past to life with its descriptive scenes and well-researched details. Everyday items we are unfamiliar with and also ideas that we would balk at in present times. Such as the racism, displayed by characters reflecting old attitudes, integrated into the book that is accurate with past prejudices. The idea that if you're associating with people descended from slaves, then your reputation will be in tatters. While this is an idea that we would never entertain, it does set the book up well and gives us an understanding of the context of the book.
The mystery aspect of the book is well thought out and is not easily solved and keeps the reader guessing. I liked this because I couldn't guess the ending. The plot is not cliche, and the subplots kept the mystery alive throughout the story. The use of Sarah's autism is original and makes the book more interesting.
The last pages round the story up nicely, and leave the book open to a sequel. Altogether, the book is a very good read, and I recommend it if you love mysteries. I can see this turning into a great series of books if the author wishes to continue with the characters.

The story follows the life and work of Dr Sarah Kenecott, a medical practitioner who takes what is considered to be too great an interest in a murder case after an examination of the victim. When she refuses to move on from the incident, she loses her job - and there begins the real drama of the novel. From medicine to forensics and criminology, Sarah turns her expertise to solving the murder, teaming up with a private investigator - a character that perfectly complements her own.
LeFurgy has done an excellent job with the characters of this novel, particularly Sarah and Jack, each with subtle and interesting idiosyncrasies that set them apart from each other and serve to carve out their role within the story. Sarah’s autism (not identified as such in the contemporary world of the novel, set in 1909) is written in a nuanced way that works really well within the setting of the novel. The historical setting is also well-informed and immersive.
Overall, a really great novel - I’d highly recommend it to anyone, particularly with an interest in historical fiction of this period or murder mystery.

But while the plot kept me riveted, it was the brilliant depiction of Sarah that kept me smiling and enthralled. Supported by research notes at the end of the novel, the author suggests Sarah’s unusual behaviour and brilliance is born of her being on the autism spectrum. She is intelligent, but physically clumsy, cannot understand double-talk and is impatient with idle social chatter. She also avoids physical touching and eye contact. In the notes, the author points out that autism was most likely mistaken for schizophrenia or mental instability back in those days. And indeed, Some of the evil doers in the story are keen to get Sarah committed to a mental institution. LeFurgy’s characterization of Sarah is unforgettable and beautifully done. I could go on for paragraphs about other things I loved about this book, like the author’s recreation of the settings, shopping, bars, customs etc in Pittsburgh in that era, but I really would like you to discover that all for yourself. Don’t think twice about buying this book. Purchase it and let LeFurgy help you visualize The times, places, people and plot playing out on the big screen. ENJOY! Nothing less than five stars. I Would give it 10 if that were possible!

