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LINCOLN - The Lost CauseBook 1 in the Lincoln Assassination SeriesPresident Abraham Lincoln once said, "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt "President Jefferson Davis once said, "I worked night and day for twelve years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind, would not let us govern ourselves, and so the war came."More than 150 years later, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln remains one of the most significant events in United States history. It continues until this very day, attracting the interest of scholars, writers like myself, and armchair historians.This series is very special to my heart. It begins with the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln on March 4, 1861, and passes by the four war years and continues with his assassination by David Edgar Herold, a 23-year old pharmacist who was living in Washington City.Wait Did you just say who? If you did, then follow this book from start to finish and you will find out that not only did John Wilkes Booth die for his involvement in the assassination, but so did four others. Many novels define John Wilkes Booth as a lone deranged actor and a madman who struck from a twisted lust for vengeance. This is not true. He was neither alone nor was he mad. According to the U. S. federal government, over 250 people were taken into custody and interrogated.Later books in the series will take you through the actual military trial of the other's conspirators, including the first woman ever executed by the United States Government.This novel will also cover that fateful night of Lincoln's assassination. It will follow the 12-day chase for John Wilkes Booth and David Herold. Then, it will follow the burial route and final resting place for Lincoln. The trial will not be covered in this novel, but the day of execution of the conspirators is included along with the burial of the other assassins.Then, the chase and capture of Jefferson Davis is told, along with his two year imprisonment by the federal government.Are you aware that it wasn't until 1977 during Jimmy Carter's term in office that Davis was posthumously forgiven for his role in the civil war and made a U. S. Citizen?The novel includes the inauguration, the assassination, the funeral, capture of John Wilkes Booth, the execution, the arrest and imprisonment of Jefferson Davis and later his funeral held in Metairie, Louisiana. Below are a few words his wife said while traveling down Poydras in downtown New Orleans. The funeral procession was over three miles long as mourners paid their respect to the South's President, Jefferson Davis."Dear, I was thinking out loud how sad a day this has been. The United States War Department did not recognize your father. The United States flag did not fly at half-mast. It flew at half-mast throughout the south." Varina began to cry again. She raised her handkerchief up to blot the tears running down her cheek. "He is the only former Secretary of War not given the respect and honor due him by the United States Government." She sighed, clasping her slender hands together in her lap, and stared at them, lost with her emotions."Mother, don't fret about it. Father's funeral service was, I am sure, attended by far more people than those who attended Abraham Lincoln's. The South loves him. We love the South."

The Curse of Knight's IslandAlles Gute zum GeburtstagA Romance Mystery & Suspense ThrillerThe old woman sat there dominated by a sense of profound sadness. Fatigue etched on her worn face. She warmed her shivering hands against the crackling fire. The sorrow grew more extreme each year she spent in her quiet and lonely house. The solemn walls continued to revive the memory of her daughter's death encountered at the hands of a member of a wealthy Knight Family descendant.She stood frozen in front of her mirror and saw the deceiving hollow soul that reflected in the tear-stained looking glass. The marks left no room to see her true self any longer. All that remained was a shell of a woman, a woman wasted away. As she gazed into the mirror she reminded herself again of the curse left behind for the gruesome murder of her daughter.The curse was spoken by the old woman in the year 1567 to the man she blamed for her daughter's murder. It still echoed over many generations of the Knight Family history."When one Knight family member spends three years on this Island, or two, unneglected, unslighted, and never regretting having come, I forgive you to the extent of my very first curse."'When the first marriage is loveless on both sides and unselfish on both sides, may that be the last marriage on which the second curse falls ""When someone loves life and willingly gives it for a Knight in peril, gives it without thought of other glory or reward than the thanks of a Knight, let the third curse go away."Her terrible curse, which came true for five hundred years remained unbroken. But, will our famous detective, Vincent Gideon, come out of retirement, again, finally solve the curse before it's too late? Will he lose the woman he has loved his entire life? What about his son? Will he die a violent death as predicted in the Curse? So many unanswered questions.The first edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley published on New Year's Day in 1818 sat on the nightstand of John Pilkington, owner of the Portland Sentinel. There was something about this novel that intrigued the old recluse. By the time this romantic suspense ends, the famed detective's friend will have read the story at least a dozen times. Why?Join Sidney St. James on Instagram at sidneyst.james or at his blog site.

THIS OLD HOUSEA Lily Blooms in the Jaws of HellBOOK 1VICTORIAN MYSTERY SERIES I walked out of my grandmother's home on Stockbridge Street in Eagle Lake, Texas, late on a Sunday night, and stared across the street. Against the night sky, all I could see was the crumbling walls that were nothing more than a ghostly silhouette of some previous grand existence. The evening summer breeze whistled through the trees bringing with it the laughter of children who once lived there and the caring call of a mother letting them know dinner was ready. This novel has been in the works since its beginning in 2005 when a century and half old colonial style home was restored by the author and his wife, Barbara. For over twelve months, the house did an amazing transformation, the third time since its original construction in 1845. The first time it was restored was 1861. The second time in 1932 and the last time in 2005. Although a work of fiction, the story was inspired by actual events that will raise the hair on the back of the reader's neck. What happened to the woman who disappeared overnight? Stand and watch a paint lid as the name "Annie" is written in cursive in the wet paint right before your eyes. Or, listen to the heavy footsteps of a construction worker on the roof in the middle of the night? Smell cherry tobacco smoke in the hallways when no one is around? What lies under the white limestone rock in the rose garden, other than dirt? We don't wish to spoil the suspense by telling what all the events were that inspired James into writing this story, but we will tell you a bit about the story.In THIS OLD HOUSE, James creates a historical mystery set in the small town of Eagle Lake, Texas, only an hour drive to the southwest of Houston in the late 18th century. Visiting the old house or what was called the Smithson's Inn named after Wm. T. M. Smithson, who moved there from Weimar Texas in 1854. Visiting the well known Inn are a number of Americans, French aristocrats, and a couple who earlier in the day married in Stafford's Point near Rosenburg, Texas, Mister Johnathan Thompson, and the former Miss Rebecca Davison. When they arrived, they insisted on staying on the first floor and were given an old room that was once a parlor converted into a bedroom.Annie Smithson, the proprietor of the Inn and daughter of Wm. Smithson, became involved when there was a murder, but the body disappeared and was nowhere to be found until sixteen years later. The story evolves into one of hidden passages, murder, deception, and general chicanery ensues. Although most of the old homes built in the mid-1800s in this small community have been destroyed, this home still stands, and the part of the house removed from it still stands on the adjacent lot next door, which by the way was the kitchen at one time. Again, this is a story of fiction for entertainment purposes. But, haunting events did occur in this home that inspired the author to write this story Happy Reading

Phantom of Black Rock CoveGideon Detective SeriesBook 5 - A NOVELLAIntroducing Bridget Flynn Thick icy sheets of rain obscured Bridget's vision. Her flashlight died just inches into the wall of water, bouncing off of millions of raindrops, each one bigger than the lemon drops she had in her pocket. The flash river running down the street gushed over the tops of her high heel shoes. Even the passage of the light slowed, and the sounds became as if they were muffled from a heavy blanket over someone's face. Aside from the beating of his heart, not one muscle moved. The pounding inside beat a rhythm to the words of his execution, the cold steel from the blunt end of a heavy steel hammer had killed his nephew. Richard Dawson became white as chalk. His eyes and mouth were frozen wide open in an expression of stunned surprise. His mind was sent spinning, unable to comprehend or process the images before him. The hammer entered three times on the side of the dead man's head, leaving blood everywhere, blasting a cavity in the side of his skull as it burst crimson all about and scattered across the red long-leaf pine floors. The man's face, so handsome and young in life, was frozen, eyes open, mouth slack. When the sheriff came to the crime scene, the body laid like a ghoulish mannequin with blood everywhere. His face was bruised and covered with great blotches. Four of his ribs were no doubt broken as one stuck out the side. Over a half-dozen detective firms were hired to find out who the killer or killers were. Almost a year passed, and the case grew cold. Richard Dawson sent word to Portland to the famed Detective, Vincent Gideon, to come and do what so many others couldn't. Find the killer of his nephew. It wasn't long after Gideon arrived he realized why other respectful detective agencies were not able to locate the killer. At first, the ghost was no more than a chill in the autumn air, a shimmer of mist. Through it, the trees and boulders along Brushy Creek became slightly out of focus, like a poorly taken photograph. It wasn't until Fred Andreas got out of his car and walked down the edge of the stream did matters become more evident. The apparition wore the same clothes as the man who was killed in the bank several months earlier. For a moment, all was silent, the spirit's eyes brimming with silver tears that shone brightly in the moonlight. Fred froze, no words came forth. He took a step backward. Then, the ghoul spoke, "Who killed me?" His grin became a snarl, baring teeth like that of a wolf. He came closer without taking a step...In the fifth novel in the Gideon Detective Series, we find the introduction of Bridget Flynn and Casey Brennan as wanna-be detectives in this new suspense thriller

Bridget Flynn - A Female DetectiveBridget Flynn Detective SeriesBook 1 - A NOVELLA"Whatever women do, they must do two times as well as men to be half as good. Fortunately, this is not difficult." Bridget Flynn said when interviewed by the Eagle Lake Headlight.After nine novels demonstrating the career of the heroic and famed detective Vincent Gideon, the time came for his passing the torch to Bridget Flynn.Times have changed, and the female detective found it was time to burst into the mystery scene, and she does it with wit and flair, paving the way for other women sleuths.Fans around the world adored the woman detective, Bridget Flynn, in her debut as a side-kick with Vincent Gideon in the novel, Rosenthall, Book 1 in the Gideon Detective Series. She used her undercover name of Agatha throughout the case.In this romance whodunit series, the lady detective, with the help of Chief Tommy Jackson of the Black Rock Cove police department, navigates her cases and sex life with good humor. Intelligence and an occasional longleaf Cuban cigar describe this attractive redhead detective.This first novel in Sidney St. James widely acclaimed Detective Series tells story after story of our delightful, cunning and brilliant woman sleuth, Bridget Flynn. Watch as James makes the world a battlefield for this female investigator... from petty insults to opening her own door. Drop this woman into a man's world and watch the sparks fly.Immediately upon setting up shop and hanging her shingle in a small office in Black Rock Cove, Flynn is hired to follow the Countess from Norderney Island after her husband, Count William died mysteriously. (Read about the beautiful countess in Book 7 of the Love Lost Series, NORDERNEY ISLAND)After solving the case, she's invited to take on two high profile cases, one to break up a secret society, the Knights of the Silver Circle and the other, the robbing of valuables and cash from the U. S. Postal System.What really rattled her cage, more so than investigating robberies, murder and cold cases like Rosenthall, is the lack of credit given to her by all the newspapers in the country. When interviewed by a journalist who knew Bridget was getting a bad shake, she said, "Whatever women do they must do two times as well as men to be half as good. Fortunately, this is not difficult."Author James has found the opportunity to allow his female main characters the time to break the rules For example, with a stroke of James' keyboard in the Rose of Brays Bayou, the award-winning author brings to life in creative nonfiction the story of the Runaway Scrape starring Dilue Rose Harris. God Bless Texas Women.

A PRINCE OF THEIR OWN by Sidney St. JamesA Novella "Women are like the police. They can have all the evidence in the world, but they still want a confession " - unknown With Vincent Gideon retired and living high in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado, the now renowned Bridget Flynn continues the Gideon Detective Agency's day-to-day services. Bridget can still remember an earlier case where Vincent let a serial killer, Rosenthall, the first book in the Gideon Detective Series, go free, and never over the next twenty years did he ever give her an understanding as to why. She was only twenty years old at the time. In this second book in the Bridget Detective Series, Flynn is hired to resolve theft at a hotel in Black Rock Cove. Dave Henry, Jonathan Lane, and Stephen Moore were elected as the committee to search out a detective agency to find out and solve a rash of robberies from tenants living in the Riverside Hotel, an exquisite five-star place of accommodations in Black Rock Cove. Flynn had just completed a baffling murder case in the small fishing village of a bank teller two weeks earlier and found the visit of three gentlemen to her office in Portland somewhat surprising so close to her finishing the last case. After listening to their report on the slippery capabilities of a thief and that no detective firms have been able to solve the case, she began to put a plan together. Her skillful ability to devise methods that help explain cases came up with a unique plan to give Hans Schedl his first undercover case. Bridget would go in under cover as Mary Lynn Simpson and watch the case evolve as Hans goes in undercover as Prince Karl Haber of the Duchy of Oldenburg. His first stop was the Regal Hotel, a swanky ski resort for the younger fast-lane crowd. If one looked closely at the flagstone floor, the heating that was hidden underneath would melt any of the finest chocolate one might leave in a sack on the tile. The armchairs were perfectly positioned to watch the skiers and snowboarders come down the mountainside, and as they left their equipment outside and trudged in shaking off the snow from their heavy boots. His undercover assignment forced him to first stay at the Regal until he could get his credentials in order before moving to the Riverside Hotel, the only five-star long-term lodging establishment on any of its type on the west coast. Besides, it was there where all the robberies were taking place, and it was there the Prince needed to be to help solve the case