"Kansas Daily Tribune intrepid reporter Mary Fanning, hero of The Body on the Bed, returns in another historical mystery that combines fact and fiction in a sup…Kansas Daily Tribune intrepid reporter Mary Fanning, hero of The Body on the Bed, returns in another historical mystery that combines fact and fiction in a superb Kansas setting to invite both historical fiction and suspense readers to partake of a vivid new adventure.

Here, Mary faces circumstances in 1873 which leads her to write, "There is madness about." Yes, and it's about to descend on her career, life, and discoveries.

The first thing to note about The Body on the Bricks is how deftly Leonard Krishtalka weaves together facts and embellishes them with dramatic flair using narrative, conversation, and high drama to pitch the story. Readers need have no familiarity with the prior book, its protagonist, or its setting in order to fall neatly into this Kansas milieu in which a series of murders falls into the news that Mary's charged with reporting.

The trouble is, Mary can't stop digging into the truth. And what emerges is more than a series of heat-inducted rages or coincidences, but a deadly series of snarls that embroils Mary and her readers in a gripping saga that entwines the lives of Lawrence county residents young and old with bigger-picture plots.

Reports about the town's personalities don't just stem from Mary's pen, but come from editors and other observers who capture succinct notes about these town influencers:

When Lewis and Clark made their expedition they recorded in their log that a beautiful young woman was the belle of the community in the hamlet at the foot of the steep rise forty miles west of Westport landing. This rise, of course, has come to be known as Mount Oread, and the "beautiful young woman" was none other than our own Dutch Dooka.

From witnesses to seemingly cold calculated shootings to ambushes, executions, accessories to murder, and strangers who manage to stay distant despite small-town gossip, Krishtalka has a flair for adding realistic backdrops of the times and daily life to give his historical story a firm grounding in "you are here" experiences:

Mary woke at six-thirty on Wednesday morning, steeped a full jar of Arbuckle's Ariosa coffee, and hurried over to the boardinghouse on Massachusetts Street. The city was asleep, save for five boys sweeping the wooden walks in front of the stores, and Mr. Pike heading to open his restaurant on the corner.

This invites readers into a story that is not just mystery or history, but a plain good read, reflecting the culture, atmosphere, and concerns of its times in a thoroughly compelling manner.

Libraries seeking crossover titles that skillfully move between genres to attract a wider audience will want to add The Body on the Bricks to their collections whether or not they've imbibed of The Body on the Bed.

Its exquisite capturing of the times, reporter Mary's personality and drive, and the insights and experiences of a cast of small town people that swirl around her contributes to a story that is vivid, exciting, and satisfyingly hard to predict – or put down."

—Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Review