Marry in Haste * Susan Van Kirk * Endurance Mysteries #2

When an unappealing, abusive bank president is found murdered in his bedroom, a retired high school English teacher must balance dual timelines to clear one of her favorite former students from a false murder charge using a diary from 1893.

The Story: Written by prominent, award-winning regional author Susan Van Kirk, this pacy second installment in the celebrated Endurance Mystery series turns a quiet Illinois farming community into a high-stakes puzzle box. Shifting seamlessly between a modern-day criminal investigation and long-lost diary fragments, the narrative looks past the predictable tracking lines of traditional village procedurals. Instead, Van Kirk establishes an emotionally dense, multi-layered framework that masterfully examines theme lines of domestic survival, generational resilience, and small-town justice.

The plot follows the intuitive Grace Kimball, a retired high school English teacher who has put down deep roots writing articles for the Endurance Register while dating its editor, Jeff Maitlin. Seeking a fresh start, Jeff buys the massive, gloomy Lockwood mansion and secures a substantial property loan from the local bank. This financial move permanently fractures their peaceful routine when Conrad Folger, the corrupt and tyrannical bank president, is found with his throat slashed in his bedroom. Because his battered wife, Emily, was sleeping in her own room, local authorities immediately throw her into a cell as the prime suspect.

Recognizing Emily as one of her favorite former students, Grace refuses to let her take the fall for a crime she didn't commit. She pushes her close friend and fellow former student, Police Detective TJ Sweeney, to investigate a broader suspect pool of spurned lovers, angry bank clients, and disgruntled family members. The timeline hits a highly volatile turning point when Grace and Jeff uncover the hidden 1893 diary of Olivia Havilock Lockwood hidden beneath the mansion's floorboards. As Grace reads the chilling, 150-year-old entries detailing Olivia's terrifying marriage to a powerful local judge, she uncovers eerie parallels to Emily's modern plight. Racing against a strict deadline before the real killer corners her, Grace must use lessons from the past to decode the modern evidence. Reissued as a standout pacy whodunit by Harlequin Worldwide Mystery, this gripping mystery serves as an essential showpiece for genealogical amateur sleuth shelves.

Perfect For: Devotees of traditional, fast-reading British and American cozy mysteries centered on historical research, old diaries, and small-town secrets like the works of Charles Todd, Rhys Bowen, or Jane K. Cleland; readers tracking the ongoing development of the Endurance mystery collection; and fiction lovers who appreciate intricate, multi-generational puzzle plots.

First published 2016 by Five Star Publishing. This revised edition in 2021.

Cozy Mysteries / Small-Town Illinois Whodunits / Historical Diaries & Genealogy / Amateur Female Sleuths / Series Continuations