9.20.15   Skullduggery, murder explored in true mystery

When he was a lawyer, Abilene author Bill Neal spent time on both sides of criminal cases — as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney. But for the past decade or so, he has taken still another side — that of an objective researcher, historian, and writer delving into interesting, even bizarre old murder cases and producing well-crafted books about them.

His first book was Getting Away with Murder on the Texas Frontier, followed by several others, including the provocative Sex, Murder and the Unwritten Law.

His fifth book, published this year by Texas Tech University Press, is Skullduggery, Secrets, and Murders: The 1894 Wells Fargo Scam That Backfired ($34.95 hardcover), about an 1894 case set in Oklahoma Territory and Texas.

The story revolves around a seemingly foolproof get-rich-quick scam that resulted in the murders of two peace officers — a sheriff in Canadian, Texas, and a Wells Fargo agent sent to investigate the scheme. Neal delves into the two murders and the eight resulting trials and tries to sort it all out.

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Small Town Tales: Joyce Gibson Roach explores life in a fictional small West Texas town in The Land of Rain Shadow: Horned Toad, Texas(Texas Tech University Press, $24.95 paperback). The eight stories are set in different eras in the twentieth century, from 1902 to 1991, covering such topics as “The Day After Pearl Harbor,” “Won’t Somebody Shout Amen?,” and “The Worst Christmas Pageant Ever.”

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Award Winner: Diane Gonzales Bertrand’s prize-winning bilingual collection of short stories for teens, There’s a Name for This Feeling (Arte Publico Press, $10.95 paperback; Spanish-language translation by Gabriela Baeza Ventura), explores issues relevant to young people today.

In one story, members of a track team search for a mysterious naked woman with embarrassing results. In another, two girls at a wax museum are in for a surprise when they disobey signs about touching the figures. And in another, a young girl grieves for the loss of her baby, a miscarriage her mother calls a “blessing.” The ten stories, for readers ages 10-13, are told in English and Spanish.

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Bank History: First Financial Bank began as a local Abilene bank but has expanded to about thirty cities across Texas, from Hereford in the northwest part of the state to Orange in the southeast.

In celebration of its 125th anniversary, the bank commissioned author Loretta Fulton to compile — and Abilene Christian University Press to publish — a full-color illustrated history of the bank. FFB Chairman and CEO Scott Dueser presented copies of First Financial Bank: 125 Years of Vision, Integrity, and Service to shareholders attending the bank’s annual meeting in April. The hardcover book retails for $25. Call (325) 672-9696.

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Glenn Dromgoole is co-author of 101 Essential Texas Books.Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.

>> Read his past Texas Reads columns in Lone Star Literary Life here.