Searching for something new in the mystery genre? Look no further than new author J.D. VanTilburg and his debut novela, Henry’s Tragedy. Published in February 2021, this fast-paced story will keep readers hooked until the very last page; and this is just the beginning of VanTilburg’s dark imagination. Over the next several months, and perhaps years, readers can expect more stories to emerge from the ongoing series called the Analogous Fates Collection.
Synopsis of Henry’s Tragedy: Book 1 of the Analogous Fates Collection
In a sleepy Midwestern town with the dubious name of “Somber,” Henry Williams lives a simple, comfortable life. He works at an accounting firm, attends church every Sunday, and is known for being pleasant and friendly to everyone around him. As a rather shy man, Henry had never married, but he wasn’t perturbed about his status as a bachelor. He enjoyed his small-town existence, with its welcoming presence and charming neighborhoods, where a murder hadn’t occurred in decades.
Then, in the warm springtime of May, a violent, inexplicable tragedy struck close to home. Henry’s mother had been killed.
In a whirlwind of shock and turmoil sparked by the first murder in over 20 years, the Somber police force worked diligently to locate the person who had brutally killed Henry’s mother. To everyone’s surprise, the suspect was Joseph Schmidt, a sleazy attorney who was well-known for defending criminals that were indisputably guilty and reducing or even overturning the accusations against them. Joseph was sharp-minded, witty, and unremorseful of his questionable law practices. When he chose to represent himself in court, he bewildered the entire town by pleading guilty to the murder: an act that would automatically earn him the death sentence.
Henry felt a strong sense of justice when Joseph met his fate, but as his rage over losing his mother waned, he began to question if Joseph had actually been telling the truth. Then, more murders began to happen throughout the town of Somber, leading Henry to believe there was something far more sinister going on. Will he ever find out the truth about what really happened to his mother, or will he be doomed to live with uncertainty and fear for the rest of his life?