The Scarlet Pen

I really enjoyed this story. A little history and a little fiction. I love the 1800s era and this did not disappoint.

Stephen Dee Richards, donned "the Ted Bundy of the Old West" is a man from Mount Pleasant, Ohio, and is engaged to a young lady named Emma Draycott. Emma is the daughter of a local banker and does not like Stephen very much but cannot put his finger on why. When a series of counterfeit bills start showing up in town it brings Clay Timmons in. Clay is a Secret Service agent who has worked for the Pony Express in the past. He quickly finds out that Stephen has passed a few of these bills within town but has left with a companion to travel west for "business" or at least that what he's told Emma.

In reality, Stephen is a cold blooded killer. Killing 9 people over the course of three years and two states. He even killed a woman and her three children. Emma, thankfully, was informed of his misdeeds and in the end did not marry him. Instead she ends up marrying the kind and courageous Clay.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect of this story, even with the changes to the history a little bit, I found the story to be well written, suspenseful and it definitely held my interest. I am a huge fan of true crime and just when I've thought I had heard about almost every serial killer out there, I am shown a new one. I had not heard of this killer or his crimes. At the end of the book the author is nice enough to show where she made the changes to the story and why.

This was a great book and I will definitely be checking out more from this author.