Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book)

Author - Patricia L. Bryan ... [Goo?] [Posters]
Author - Thomas Wolf ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Paperback Book item from University Of Iowa Press was reviewed on 16-Oct-2008.

Search ISBN:1587296055 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) Reference Book. Classifications : United States History Humanities New & Used Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books General AAS History Humanities New & Used Textbooks Custom Stores Specialty Stores Books General AAS New & Us . Click the following link to view the cover of Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book).

Related topics: United States. History. Humanities. Custom Stores. Specialty Stores. Books. General AAS. History. Humanities. Custom Stores.

1) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press. I am not much for history, but I really loved this book. It´s a very interesting mystery, but it´s also interesting to see how much the criminal justice process has evolved over the past 100 years. For example, in this case the closing arguments took longer than the presentation of all the evidence. The defendant held her granddaughter on her lap during the entire trial. The newspapers concluded she committed the murder because she didn´t act "feminine". I love true crime books, and this was a really good one as well as a change of pace due to the historical nature of it. I would recommend this book to anyone.¤

2) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press. I bought this book because of my love of true crime. What I came away with was much more than a story of an ax murder in 1900 Iowa. The author´s paint a vivid picture of the dismal life and the hardships of the wive´s of farmers during this era, and the farmer´s themselves, as they weave their story with true accounts of the actual investigation and trial.

Midnight Assassin is an easy read and real page turner. What I wasn´t expecting was the portrait of desperation, fear and isolation that made this book so much more than a true crime story. "Little House on the Praire" this was not and is a must read!¤

3) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press. This book was of extreme interest from beginning to end. I love true crime stories, so the legal and moral aspects were the reason I purchased this book, but I found a secondary reason as soon as I started reading it. I am also interested in genealogy and my ancestors came to Iowa the same time as the Hossacks and they lived less than 45 miles apart. The authors´ descriptions and stories of their lives and the everyday living of the farmers of the area were amazing. I felt like I was there, experiencing their lives, and their trials. Whenever a book can make me feel as if I am actually there, while it is happening, it is well worth the read.¤

4) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press. Excellent story told here, with a mix of history of farming life in the midwest in early 1900s, law, civil rights and the mystery of the murder. It keeps your interest with the who-done-it story line and the tease of incomplete information coming from crime scene research and from the witnesses at the trial. I recommend it.¤

5) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press. This is a well-written book that casts the reader back into the lives of prairie farmers at the beginning of the 20th century. It shows the dark side of Little House on the Prairie.

It is especially good at introducing the reader to the plight of many farm wives in that era. Through the trial of Margaret Hossack for the ax murder of her husband, we get a feel for the isolation and desperation of these women. The man a woman married was her whole lot in life. It was strictly the luck of the draw for her. If a husband turned out to be cold and abusive, as it seems Mr. Hossack was, his wife had little recourse but to suffer through it to the end. Although Margaret may not have suffered in complete silence, since there was ample evidence of how often she had rushed to her neighbors to complain of her husband´s foul, dangerous moods - there was little anyone else could or would do to help. As this book keenly points out, the code of being a good housewife and a "lady" constrained women to their places and prevented others from interceding too effectively. The book poses the question - Did Mrs. Hossack ultimately engage in self help?

The book´s other purpose is to juxtapose the lives of two women situated very differently in 1900. On the one hand, there is Mrs. Hossack, confined to her meager, loveless life on the prairie. On the other hand, there is Susan Glaspell, the liberated young reporter who covered Mrs. Hossack´s first trial. I would have liked to have read more details about Glaspell´s early career as a crime reporter in a man´s world. But perhaps that would have been spreading the content of this book too thin. The author does circle back at the end of Midnight Assassin to provide a follow-up on Glaspell´s writing career. Trifles, the play Glaspell eventually wrote, based loosely on the Hawkin´s trial, has a heart-wrenching conclusion. It´s worthwhile reading this book for that dramatic take on the caged lives of these farm women alone.
¤

6) Paperback Book Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book) by University Of Iowa Press.

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 13-Nov-2008, 15872960559781587296055, 850-970-551-931-TQB-JIB-8

Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland (Bur Oak Book), Book, Image © University Of Iowa Press

Search: University Of Iowa Press, Book Posters, Book Art