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Category Archives: Historical Fiction

Loyalties: Uncertain / Mixed / Fanatical

19 Mar
Loyalties: Uncertain / Mixed / Fanatical

Todd Weatherford, Kentucky-born Chicago tour guide is seduced by an apparent tourist from the West Indies, leading to the sudden breakup of his marriage. When the seducer abruptly disappears, Todd seeks guidance from his family and learns that his ancestors were Revolutionary War Loyalists who also had West Indies connections. Todd and two friends journey to the Bahamas to track the mystery woman and unravel her suspected evil intentions. What is her ancestral secret? Will she once again derail Todd’s plans, or will he and his friends sabotage hers? Is she working alone, or does she have wealthy and powerful associates? The answers to these questions involve Todd and his friends in unexpected adventures.

Loyalties stemmed from my wondering what happened to the Loyalists who backed the losing side in the American Revolutionary War. I added to that question uncertainties about family relationships when a seducer disrupts normal marital developments and interests in the Bahamas and the pirates that once used those islands as their home ports. One of the best ways to approach the writing of a novel is to ask yourself questions and then proceed to answer them.

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2019 in Historical Fiction, Mystery

 

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Impasse

19 Mar
Impasse

The discovery of human bones while excavating a property to build a new church requires all work to stop. Arthur and Irma Blake investigate and find an earlier structure on that lot was involved in illegal activities, requiring FBI leadership of the inquiry. Further research reveals a group of foreign citizens who replaced Americans illegally and an elaborate money laundering scheme. What are the foreigners trying to do? Who killed the people unearthed during construction and others discovered later? How will the killer be brought to justice more than twenty years after the crimes?

Impasse was triggered in my mind by occasional news articles about the discovery of bones while excavating for construction of a new public or private building. Every discovery has a story behind it, so I started with finding skeletal bones and built the rest from there. Each step along the way engenders others. Impasse was my first book that involved scenes in the Bahamas, a fascinating location for me. I return to that setting in my next novel, Loyalties.

 
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Posted by on March 19, 2019 in Historical Fiction, Mystery, Resources

 

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Impending: A Genealogical Mystery

16 Jun

Impending Front Cover 001

Impending is no longer impending. It has arrived and is available for purchase in either printed paperback or Kindle eBook formats. Most books by Richard Davidson emphasize the influence of past events on present activities and situations. Impending carries that thinking even further. It is both a work of historical fiction and a current-day mystery novel. It starts with a family secret stemming from the American Civil War battle of Gettysburg, develops through an odyssey to Australia, matures in outlaw and fractured family years of the late nineteenth century, and comes to a series of climaxes in the present day. The details of this latest absorbing adventure through the years follow:

Young married private detectives, Debbie and Jeremy Hadley, discover that Debbie’s family, the Danforths, have a family secret. Grandma Marie Danforth summons them because she fears that alienated family members and underworld characters will attempt to wrest control of the secret from her. The history of the secret begins at the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg and develops through a century and a half of Danforth family twists and intrigues. Although written as a continuous story, Impending actually is two novels in one: the saga of how the secret developed from its inception to the present day, and the mystery of how to counter multiple attempts to hijack it. Impending is history and mystery all-in-one. Debbie and Jeremy team with police from two cities to unravel the mystery and reach its surprising conclusion.

 
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Posted by on June 16, 2017 in Historical Fiction, Mystery

 

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Impending is impending

06 Jun

Impending Front Cover 001

Impending: A Genealogical Mystery is in its final stage of revisions prior to publishing release. It deals with young married private detectives, Debbie and Jeremy Hadley, discovering that Debbie’s family, the Danforths, have a family secret. Grandma Marie Danforth summons them to reveal the secret, which is one hundred and fifty years old, and to help her protect it from attack by questionable characters. Although written as a continuous story, Impending actually is two novels in one. First, we have the saga of how the secret developed from its inception to the present day, and second, is the mystery of who is attempting to hijack it. It’s history and mystery all-in-one.

 
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Posted by on June 6, 2017 in Historical Fiction, Mystery

 

Impostor: A Genealogical Mystery

06 Jul

Impostor Front Cover 001

The gravestone of a baby who lived less than one day casts the shadow of a man. Jeremy Hadley’s Great-grandfather is discovered to have taken the name and birth data of a child who died shortly after birth. Who was this Impostor? Was he good or evil? How should his present-day descendants feel about him? For that matter, should they alter their feelings about themselves based on this flaw in their ancestry?

The genealogical investigation is led by Jeremy’s live-in girlfriend, Debbie Danforth, who is also his partner in a start-up detective agency. What they find disrupts the structure of the Hadley family while revealing hitherto hidden information about events that preceded World War II in both Britain and the United States. Even their supporting associates in a covert federal agency discover facts that had been previously unknown to them.

This novel is leading readers in several countries to take a new look at their own family trees for past disconnections and substitutions that may change their outlooks on present-day family relationships.

 
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Posted by on July 6, 2016 in Historical Fiction, Mystery, Resources

 

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Military Writers Society of America (MWSA) Review of Implications

24 Feb

Implications Final Front Cover

MWSA Review

Author Richard Davidson weaves an intricate mystery in his new book, Implications. The clues in this story are like pieces of dew on a spider’s web that his protagonist Pastor Arthur Blake has to find and pull together. I enjoyed how the author drew in history from the 1920’s and even Al Capone into Blake’s investigation of his present day arson. Lost diamonds, bootlegging, mob murders, infidelity, revenge, all have to fit together just right, so Blake can solve the case he has been assigned, the arson of a local church. If you enjoy mysteries this is a great read. With a truly likable protagonist, complex plots, and a lot of suspects to weed through. A fun read.

Reviewed by: Bob Doerr (2015)

 
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Posted by on February 24, 2015 in Book Reviews and Interviews, Historical Fiction, Mystery, prohibition

 

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The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series

04 Aug

Here’s the full Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series:

Temptation Front Cover

Lead Us Not into Temptation (The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, Volume I), 

VBW Publishing, Inc.

ISBN 978-1-60264-407-6 (paperback) 

ISBN 978-1-4581-7381-2 (Smashwords Edition eBook) 

ASIN B0052MGI6Q (Kindle Edition eBook) 

Arthur Blake, former NASA engineer turned minister, receives an emergency appointment to be pastor of the United Methodist Church in Parkville, a distant suburb of Chicago, following the bizarre sudden death of the church’s unusual former pastor. Pastor Blake’s attempts to unravel the mystery that shrouds his predecessor become involved with tracking the child of a possibly bigamous soldier in World War II England, art and jewelry treasures plundered by the Nazis and their sympathizers, and the eventual results of childhood sibling conflicts in combined families. Arthur’s allies in his investigation include Parkville Police Chief Bobby Andrews, County Medical Examiner Irma Custis, and the married team of Penny and Joe Gonzalez who work for a clandestine government agency. During the course of Lead Us Not into Temptation, the reader discovers how seemingly minor historical events lead to major present-day dislocations in church, village, and family relationships.

Daily Bread 2nd edition Front Cover

Give Us this Day Our Daily Bread (The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, Volume II – Second Edition)

RADMAR Publishing Group

ISBN 978-0-9829160-5-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4580-6717-3 (Smashwords Edition eBook)

ASIN B0052MQI66 (Kindle Edition eBook)

Arthur Blake, Pastor of Parkville United Methodist Church, has to deal with the aftereffects of a traumatic communion incident. He works to assist the authorities in investigating the cause while doing his best to convince members of his congregation that it is safe to return to church. Working with the police and federal agencies, he discovers that the terror of the initial event is minor compared with the potential chaotic impact of future disasters being planned by the perpetrator. The investigation is interwoven with several relationship situations that affect the final outcome.

Trespasses Front Cover 001

Forgive Us Our Trespasses (The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, Volume III)

RADMAR Publishing Group

ISBN 978-0-9829160-1-8 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-4657-3739-7 (Smashwords Edition eBook)

ASIN B005SULQ6Y (Kindle Edition eBook)

Arthur Blake, Pastor of Parkville United Methodist Church, tries to assist his father to resolve his trauma after learning that his best friend, recently killed in a car accident, may have been an imposter with a heinous background. The investigation reveals that the presumed accident was but one link in a chain of murders. Blake works to determine the true identity of his father’s friend, while also discovering the man’s past activities and affiliations. Arthur works to solve the murders in conjunction with his colleagues at ABC Consultants. He also draws on assistance from associates at a covert government agency with which he has worked before. The coordinated effort to solve the puzzle examines incidents that span the period between World War II and the present in order to defuse the personal, national, and international dangers resulting from them.

Thy_Will_Be_Done_Cover_for_Kindle

Thy Will Be Done (The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, Volume IV)

RADMAR Publishing

ISBN 978-0-9829160-2-5 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-3013-4293-8 (Smashwords Edition eBook)

ASIN B009JU6EZM (Kindle Edition eBook)

The sudden death of a young woman attending Parkville United Methodist Church infuriates her brother and leads to congregational outrage over his outburst and subsequent murder. The investigation of that slaying by Pastor Arthur Blake and his associates leads to revelations of a previously undetected criminal organization operating in the area. Unraveling the mystery and scope of this group entangles Arthur and his associated investigators in a web of conspiracies extending from Illinois to both U.S. coasts and through Mexico to Guatemala.

Deliver Us from Evil Front cover

Deliver Us from Evil (The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, Volume V)

RADMAR Publishing

ISBN 978-0-9829160-3-2 (paperback)

ASIN: B00EBDUXFY (Kindle Edition eBook)

Arthur and Irma’s wedding day has finally arrived, but an unexpected interruption leads to their need to investigate a possible murder committed by someone close to them. With the aid of friends and federal agents Penny and Joe Gonzalez, they follow a series of clues, crisscrossing the United States to learn more about the murder, related subsequent events, and the significance of a rare object brought home by a veteran of the Iraq War. A second murder close to Pastor Arthur Blake’s church involves them in a new investigation, assisting Parkville Police Chief Bobby Andrews. Are these murders and the tracking of that strange object connected? Will marriage deteriorate or improve the relationship between Arthur and Irma? Character flaws in many relationships color the outcome.

By the time you finish reading The Lord’s Prayer Mystery Series, you’ll know the predicted location of a real ancient treasure. Hopefully you will have also had many hours of reading enjoyment.

 
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Posted by on August 4, 2014 in Historical Fiction, Mystery

 

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