Murder at Mount Vernon
The Founding Fathers Mysteries, #1
Reeks: The Founding Fathers Mysteries
Robert J. Muller
- Politics,
- murder,
- and
- mortal
- danger
- confront
- retired
- General
- George
- Washington
- as
- he
- considers
- whether
- to
- accept
- the
- presidency
- of
- the
- United
- States.The
- General
- has
- retired
- to
- his
- farm,
- Mount
- Vernon,
- but
- he
- cannot
- escape
- the
- politics
- of
- his
- time.
- The
- new
- constitution
- requires
- a
- president,
- and
- no
- one
- doubts
- it
- must
- be
- him.
- Except
- himself.Colonel
- David
- Humphreys,
- Washington's
- aide-de-camp
- in
- the
- war,
- has
- come
- for
- a
- protracted
- visit
- to
- his
- friend
- the
- General.
- He's
- working
- on
- his
- poetry
- and
- a
- biography
- of
- his
- benefactor
- while
- he
- enjoys
- the
- bucolic
- life
- in
- Virginia,
- but
- his
- aversion
- to
- enslavement
- distresses
- his
- New
- England
- sensibilities.Colonel
- George
- Mason
- of
- Gunston
- Hall,
- a
- nearby
- plantation,
- is
- the
- General's
- principal
- political
- opponent
- in
- the
- area.When
- the
- General
- and
- Colonel
- Humphreys
- find
- a
- murdered
- slave
- by
- the
- river,
- events
- take
- a
- darker
- turn.
- The
- General
- fears
- the
- event
- will
- give
- his
- political
- enemies
- ammunition
- to
- use
- against
- him,
- complicating
- his
- decision
- to
- accept
- the
- presidency.As
- the
- official
- investigation
- proceeds,
- two
- things
- are
- clear.
- Colonel
- Mason
- and
- his
- allies
- believe
- they
- can
- charge
- the
- General
- with
- murder,
- and
- the
- General
- discovers
- that
- not
- all
- is
- well
- on
- his
- own
- plantation.
- Goods
- are
- missing,
- and
- he
- discovers
- growing
- problems
- with
- his
- enslaved
- workers.
- Probing
- these
- problems
- reveals
- connections
- to
- an
- effort
- by
- the
- British
- to
- stir
- up
- trouble
- in
- Alexandria
- and
- elsewhere
- in
- the
- former
- colonies.To
- accept
- the
- presidency,
- Colonel
- Humphreys
- and
- the
- General
- must
- show
- he
- is
- innocent
- of
- the
- crime.
- As
- they
- investigate,
- they
- fall
- deeper
- into
- the
- political
- conflict
- of
- the
- day
- and
- find
- themselves
- in
- increasing
- personal
- danger.
- But
- the
- General
- must
- also
- confront
- a
- great
- moral
- decision—whether
- to
- free
- his
- slaves.Murder
- at
- Mount
- Vernon
- is
- the
- first
- novel
- in
- the
- Founding
- Fathers
- series
- of
- historical mysteries.
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