death is Compulsive
A John Holmes Johnson Mystery
by
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After the bomb strikes in London August 24, Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent the Royal Air Force over Germany. The British bombs actually did little damage, but the people of Germany were panicked. Their leaders had promised them that no allied bombers would get through to native soil.
September 7, Hitler's Luftwaffe retaliated. That Saturday, 150 bombers struck London. The first hit was an arsenal on the South Bank of the Thames. Also struck were the Victoria and Albert Docks, the West India Docks and the Commercial Docks. London's East End suffered a devastating blow, several areas being pulverized, leaving four hundred dead and thousands injured.
The RAF planes arrived too late to prevent these damages, but they did eventually manage to down 47 enemy planes.
Germany was a long way from finished with London. Hitler was determined to force England to her knees. For the next seven days, London was pounded, and for those seven days, the newspapers gave sketchy, incomplete information concerning the assaults on English soil, speaking in cryptic words.
It was a white faced John Holmes Johnson who entered the Baltimore Baptist Church that Sunday morning. William actually assisted him as he climbed awkwardly out of the Ford sedan. Carrie and I met him as he came up the sidewalk. We took his arms and together we went into the sanctuary, followed by William, pushing Marvin's wheelchair. Not all members of the church were pleased with the presence of a black man in their congregation. Several families left.
Long fervant prayers went up from other, more tolerant members of our congrgation, and Marvin was surrounded by a growing love.
My brother's eyes revealed the deep ache he was feeling.
It was a long week. By Sunday the 15, there had been day and night raids on London, leaving approximately two thousand dead and ten thousand wounded. Many were entombed in the rubble. On that day alone, four hundred bombers escorted by 700 fighters flew over the city. The RAF shot down over fifty German planes, another twenty or more went into the English Channel out of fuel.
Even Buckingham Palace was struck; fortunately, the Royal family was not injured. They had refused to leave the city, preferring instead to take their chances along with their people.
For three days, Holmes brooded. He took long walks with his Irish Wolfhound, Rusky, in the woods behind his house, and by lengthing the stirrup to accomodate his braced leg, he was able to ride his horse, Ladyblue.
On Wednesday the 18, he was gone all day, retracing his steps the day William Alley Greene and his gang had attacked him on the banks of the Blue River. He rode alone, deep in thought, unaware that he was being followed.
Wulliam had argued with his boss that he should go along with him, but an angry Holmes had adamantly refused. He literally ordered William not to follow him.
About 2:00 o'clock, Holmes stopped and slid off the horse. Sitting on a sun-dappled bank on a chilly but sunny September day, he ate the light lunch he had brought along. His thoughts were of his homeland and all the people he knew there. Finally he prayed for peace of mind so that he could rest and then get on with the business of finding Harold's murderer.
The exhausted man stretched out on the bank and dozed.
His tail stayed out of sight, mirroring the other man's actions but not sleeping.
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About the Book
As war ravages Europe, John Holmes Johnson is torn between his love and concern for his native England and an equally powerful love for America. He is slowly recuperating emotionally and physically from several near fatal blows and the loss of a loved one the year before. As a result, he throws all his energy into the work of establishing his newly formed detective agency.
Frank and Harold Webb, owners of several properties in Metropolitan Kansas City, hire his agency. The detectives have barely gotten started on the case when Harold is killed and his hotel burned to the ground. In the weeks following the disaster, there are threats against the Webb family, the detective agency, and Harold's widow is attacked, endangering her unborn son.
Holmes also receives death threats. His dog is found murdered and then there is an attack on his home. Before it is over, John Holmes and his small staff find themselves embroiled in a violent feud with the militant leaders of a fanatic religious cult. There are more deaths on both sides and new alliances formed before the violence is brought under control.
About the Author
M. L. Spurgeon was born and raised in Kansas. Tragedy left four young siblings orphaned, ages 11 to 2. They were raised by their maternal grandmother, a woman of stubborn determination and strength. From her, the author inherited a stubborn spirit and a strong inclination toward art and writing.
Now retired after a long career in teaching art at every grade level, she is concentrating on writing combined with a deeply anchored devotion to children. Over the years she has written numerous short stories, hundreds of poems, and a series of mystery novels, and children are an important part of everything she writes.
Today she is an Adjunct Professor at Davis College in Johnson City, New York. Her first novel, death Is Belligerent was published in May of 2004.