A young girl by the name of, Lillie Field was, brutally murdered in Otter Tail County, Minnesota in 1887. The author speculates that justice was being served, because prior to Lillie's murderer being punished for his crimes (by hanging) many others before had not served time for murder. In fact, the little county was getting a reputation for letting murderers walk free. The author sensationalizes the many instances (twelve to be exact) of murderers walking free in part one and then in part two she goes into the death of Lillie Fields and talks about how justice was finally served. I liked the concept of this book, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I loved that maps were included but I would have liked to have seen photos an newspaper clippings as well. My biggest beef was that nothing was cited; newspapers and dates were referenced but when the book ends there is no works cited. This could easily have read as fiction, especially since so much was embellished (mannerisms, dialogue, etc). A blurb on the back of the book touts "an insightful, creative and well researched account of crime and punishment in 19th century rural Minnesota..." It was creative all right!
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