Blood at the Whistletop

"You're the most famous railroad detective that nobody ever heard of," says railroad tycoon Henry Plant when in May of 1887 he hires Jimmy Lee "Choctaw" Parker to investigate the murder of his head surveyor and geologist Leon Skarvo. In a story that ranges from Tampa to Ybor City and along the Florida Southern Railroad line to Arcadia, Choctaw Parker and his colleagues battle deceitful politicians, bolita gamblers, and ruthless cracker cowboys to uncover the truth in this fast-paced mystery set in Florida during the Gilded Age. About the Choctaw Parker Mysteries, The Historical Novel Society says that Brewer creates "…an engaging, anchored crime tale. [He] crafts an interesting cast of many memorable, despicable, and even some semi-honorable characters within a realistic historical setting."