Timothy Westrick

The Circus Ax: a Novel of Murder and Justice Timothy Westrick

When a woman is brutally murdered in Jackson, Michigan, in 1922, state and local law enforcement personnel unite to solve the crime. Based on press reports of the day, this fictionalized account details the real life murder of Alice Mallett, a single woman who worked at a home for unwed mothers and children, and was attacked on the quiet streets of this growing town. Long before the days of the advanced forensic and crime scene investigation resources of today's law enforcement, the investigators work to solve the murder with impressive speed and simple methods, relying on the "pounding the pavement" method of procedural police work. Faced with false suspects, dead-end leads, lynch mobs and prejudices of the time, the investigators strive to bring a heinous killer to justice in the early 20th century.