Murder On Old Mission - Softcover

In the summer of 1895, Woodruff Parmelee, the son of a well to do farmer on Old Mission Peninsula, was tried for the murder of Julia Curtis, his pregnant girlfriend. On the day the verdict was announced a large and menacing crowd gathered in and around the courthouse demanding that justice be done.

Parmelee’s defense rested on his alibi. He claimed that he was clearing brush for a new road leading to West Bay while the body was found near the shore of East Bay. At trial, Louie Parmelee, Woodruff’s fifteen year old son from his first marriage who was living with him at that time, testifed in support of his father.

These are the bare facts out of which Stephen Lewis has woven his fictional version of this compelling story. His novel focuses on the son’s di- lemma. Should he confirm his father’s alibi? What if knew it to be false? What if he himself was in love with the victim?

What Reviewers Say About Lewis’s Novels

About Murder on Old Mission: At the center of this history-inspired mystery are the complex and secret relationships between fathers and sons. The sophistication and intricacy of these interactions—spoken and unspoken, buried and unburdened—make... Murder On Old Mission a haunting, rewarding read. —Anne Marie Oomen, author of Pulling Down the Barn

In Murder on Old Mission, Stephen Lewis has crafted a historical tale abundant with longing, betrayal, jealousy, and moral indignation that proves how an imaginative ctionist can stir fresh and intriguing life from the ashes of an authentic, long-forgotten homicide. —J. Kingston Pierce, January Magazine

Lewis conveys a remarkable understanding of time and place...in this finely nuanced novel with keenly wrought descriptions of Old Mission Peninsula...at the close of the nineteenth century. —Merril D. Smith, author of Sex and Sexuality in Early America

About The Sea Hath Spoken: A tremendous Colonial mystery that deserves a wide readership. The story line is well written, as seventeenth century life in New England seems so vividly alive. The who-done-it is fun and Catherine is quite the heroine. With a powerful support cast augmenting the plot with an insider’s look at the times. —Harriet Klausner

About And Baby Makes None: The neighborhoods, streets, delis, parks and beaches of Brooklyn have not received such loving care since the days of Walt Whitman. —Michael Dunne, Professor of English, Middle Tennessee State University

About The Monkey Rope: A dark, gritty first novel. —Kirkus Reviews

About The Blind in Darkness: A dark, compelling novel, rich with undercurrents, brings us to New England in the days of the Pilgrims. —Roberta Alexander, Contra Costa Times