In the mid-1950s, six chilling murders tightened the grip of fear on the residents of southwest Indiana and northwest Kentucky. Victims and locations were random: a pregnant woman working in the family store, a filling station attendant, a rural housewife, and three members of one family. There was one significant common factor in all the murders. Each victim was made to kneel, their hands tied behind their backs, and shot once in the head with a .38 caliber weapon. Newspapers dubbed the slayings 'The Kneeling Corpse Murders.'

With no leads, no suspects, and virtually no clues to point to one, police were stymied in their attempts to identify the murderer. A chance encounter would bring the break they needed. After he was apprehended, it would be a long time before the tumult caused by Mad Dog Irvin was finally over. The relaxed and trusting days before the killings would be forever altered and the case would go on to the U.S. Supreme Court producing a decision that affects legal journalism to this day.

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A good chunk of my time growing up in southern Indiana was spent reading books; all kinds of books, but especially mysteries. In spite of various earlier occupations in my life, I have worked as a Registered Nurse for a couple of decades. Among my passel of hobbies, one of my favorite is genealogy. I started pestering busy adults with questions about my family history when I was twelve years old. Over the years, I have dug through family papers and photos, scrolled through and squinted at faded and tattered microfilm, traveled to distant places in search of crumbling documents, and spent countless hours in cemeteries searching for stones. I was lucky enough to experience the thrill of discovering and uncovering the markers of some very long lost ancestors. I enjoy writing mysteries that combine genealogy and history, and I hope my readers enjoy it as well.