Release Week! Dr. Bowen #Mystery - Lizzie Borden: Guilty/Not Guilty?

Release Week Continues!
It's release week for my latest, The Haunting of Dr. Bowen, A Mystery in Lizzie Borden’s Fall River:

This one is a bit different - a supernatural story that shares how Lizzie Borden's doctor and neighbor might have been affected by the gruesome Borden murders.... and how she influenced him...  

* NOTE: Please buy your Kindle copy here on release day, Friday, 8/4. Or get it on Kindle Unlimited! I'd appreciate your reviews, too.

* Visit some blogs this week to learn more, read excerpts and comment at the blogs to be entered to win a Kindle copy: 

* Tuesday, 8/1:  I'm over at Courtney Mroch's Haunt Jaunts
* Wednesday, 8/2: See Jean Rabe's blog 
* TODAY: * Thursday, 8/3:  Thoughts on Dr. Bowen and Lizzie Borden - Here.
* Friday, 8/4: RELEASE DAY! Buy here! 
- Visit Erika Mailman's blog. (postponed)
* Monday, 8/7: Jacqueline Seewald's blog

Today - A few thoughts on Dr. Bowen:

I found him to be an interesting man, seemingly full of contradictions. What really struck me was reading one newspaper report on how he seemed to have a special connection with Lizzie. You can read many of the past news reports on the Borden trial in The Lizzie Borden Sourcebook by David Kent.  There are some good newspaper scans of the Borden trial also at the Library of Congress site. 

The good doctor did seem to be protecting Lizzie. Was he? Was she guilty - or innocent?
   
I've gone back and forth on this, especially since it still seems so incredible that a woman of her standing would commit such a brutal, horrible crime. Yet, these were murders of rage. Personal? Maybe from someone who felt they were not getting what they deserved or able to live how they thought they should? Like many young women of her time, Lizzie did go on a "grand tour" of Europe and may have come back more discontented than ever. 

But everything - any clues, any witnesses, any reports - all of it was circumstantial. Was she a selfish, greedy, angry woman nearing middle age who felt life had passed her by? Maybe. Maybe other unknown visitors supposedly heard arguing with the father committed the crime. Or maybe that was a convenient lie, too. But it still seems probable that she could have done this - if she was the planning mastermind that could pull it off. If everything fell into place. It's a case that even 125 years later still has many more questions than answers.

I recently wrote an article on some of the various elements of the murder and the police role in the investigations for an  upcoming issue of Mystery Readers Journal. Stay tuned for details.  

*** For now, I'd love to hear what you think: Was Lizzie Borden guilty or not guilty? Why?

(Share your thoughts in the comments to be entered to win a Kindle copy of Dr. Bowen's story.) 
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About The Haunting of Dr. Bowen, A Mystery in Lizzie Borden’s Fall River:

The short supernatural-flavored mystery (141 pages) is on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited and coming in print. http://getBook.at/HauntingofDrBowen
Author website: http://cverstraete.com

Gruesome deaths haunt the industrial city of Fall River, Massachusetts.

Dr. Seabury Bowen—physician to the infamous Lizzie Borden—swears he’s being stalked by spirits, though his beloved wife thinks it’s merely his imagination. But the retired doctor insists that neither greed nor anger provoked the recent sensational axe murders in Fall River. Rather, he believes the city is poisoned by bad blood and a thirst for revenge dating back to the Indian and Colonial wars.


Now, two years after the Borden murders, Dr. Bowen is determined to uncover the mysteries stirring up the city’s ancient, bloodthirsty specters. Can he discover who, or what, is shattering the peace before Fall River runs red? Or will he be the next victim?


Part mystery, part love story, The Haunting of Dr. Bowen reveals the eerie side of Fall River as witnessed by the first doctor on the scene of the legendary Borden murders.
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