Mile Marker Ten (Mill Town)

Ellicott City, Maryland, 1908: An unidentified body is found on the trolley tracks in the hills outside of town. Unsuspecting revelers are poisoned during a dinner party at a historic mansion. A vicious assault leaves a farmer near death, and a young black man named Billy Hatwood is accused of the crime. Trudy O’Flynn, a writer for the local newspaper, discovers patterns in these crimes that the authorities are too busy or incurious to investigate. She begins to question the odd behavior of the mysterious chemist who recently opened a pharmacy in town. When Billy Hatwood, her friend and neighbor, is accused of the assault, it becomes personal for Trudy. She must find the real culprit before an innocent man is sent to prison or, worse, lynched by an angry mob. Michael Maloney weaves an exhilarating tale from true events described in numerous clippings from The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers. Insightful and whimsical, Mile Marker Ten vividly portrays a time of transformation, not unlike our own, driven by rapid technology and social change.