BooksBarbecue
Back A Slow Ruin Save as PDF
Chapters (61)
  1. Praise for USA Today bestseller Pamela Crane’s psychological thrillers:
  2. To Talia, for letting Mommy take a million pictures of you for my cover. I know you love the attention.
  3. Author’s Note
  4. The Pittsburg Press
  5. Prologue
  6. Chapter 1
  7. Chapter 2
  8. Chapter 3
  9. Chapter 4
  10. Chapter 5
  11. Chapter 6
  12. Chapter 7
  13. Chapter 8
  14. The Pittsburg Press
  15. Chapter 9
  16. Chapter 10
  17. Chapter 11
  18. Chapter 12
  19. Chapter 13
  20. Chapter 14
  21. Chapter 15
  22. Chapter 16
  23. The Pittsburg Press
  24. Chapter 17
  25. Chapter 18
  26. Chapter 19
  27. Chapter 20
  28. Chapter 21
  29. Chapter 22
  30. The Pittsburg Press
  31. Chapter 23
  32. Chapter 24
  33. Chapter 25
  34. The Pittsburg Press
  35. Chapter 26
  36. Chapter 27
  37. Chapter 28
  38. Chapter 29
  39. The Pittsburg Press
  40. Chapter 30
  41. Chapter 31
  42. Chapter 32
  43. Chapter 33
  44. Chapter 34
  45. Chapter 35
  46. Chapter 36
  47. Chapter 37
  48. Chapter 38
  49. Chapter 39
  50. Chapter 40
  51. Chapter 41
  52. The Pittsburg Press
  53. Chapter 42
  54. Chapter 43
  55. Chapter 44
  56. Chapter 45
  57. Chapter 46
  58. Epilogue
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. About the Author
  61. Enjoy what you read?

To Linda Milito Martin, the muse behind Barkalicious Boutique. It wouldn’t be the coolest fictional dog shop without you.

To Noelle Nuzzi, Melissa Borsey, Emily Cheang Wai Kuen, and Vicky Brunner for participating in my Choose Your Own Adventure game to give Marin and Felicity jobs I would never have come up with on my own. I love how you guys think!

To the real-life Alveras who sacrifice so much for a greater cause. Family, freedom, time, money…all in the pursuit of a better future for others. Your passion is not in vain.

To all the mothers. It’s the most beautiful burden that we carry. May your shoulders remain strong, your heart soft, and your love wide.

Author’s Note

Author’s Note

The story you are about to read isn’t just mine. In fact, it’s unlike anything else I’ve written, steeped in personal connections and mystery. While all of my books are rooted in real-life experience and people, this one especially so.

Depicted on the cover is my daughter, Talia, a child passionate for art and literature (a writer mom’s dream kid!). And my creatively brilliant niece Mary scripted many of the journal entries to offer teenage authenticity to Vera.

Woven into the newspaper articles are true facts recounted from an actual 1910 missing heiress case that to this day remains unsolved. You may notice the news reporting style is a bit different—and completely authentic of the era.

Yet the most exciting and intimate part of this book revolves around suffragette Alvera Fields, loosely based on a heroic ancestor of mine who fought passionately for the rights of women. Not only was she the inspiration for this story, but for generations of women who reaped the benefits of her sacrifice.

Digging into the cold cases of the past, and the lives steeped in mystery, added a layer to this story that makes it one of my favorite books I’ve written.

And now this labor of love belongs not just to us who poured ourselves into its words, but also to you as you pour yourself into our story.

The Pittsburg Press

The Pittsburg Press

Pittsburg, PA

Sunday, April 17, 1910

WOMAN’S SUFFRAGE VOLUNTEER AND MOTHER OF NEWBORN STRANGELY MISSING

No Limit to Reward, Husband States

Mrs. Alvera Fields, wife to millionaire Robert Fields and mother of three-month-old daughter Olivia Fields, disappeared from her home on the evening of April 16, and although a nationwide search has been made for the young woman, no trace of her has been found. She is thirty-two years old.