Review of Empire of the Wheel: An Investigation of Occult
Espionage and Murder, by Walter
Bosley and Richard B. Spence. Corvos Books, 2011.
~~
Tessa B. Dick
A plain grave marker in
the potter's field of Mountain View Cemetery reads, “Cora Stanton,
Nov. 19, 1915”; it bears no date of birth or next of kin because
nobody knows who she is or where she came from. You can see that
marker today in the cemetery on Highland Avenue, on the north side of
the street, facing the grounds of St. Bernadine Hospital.
The year is 1915. While
World War I rages in Europe, the United States remains neutral, sort
of. German spies haunt the transportation hubs and infest the social
circles of America. British spies cooperate with Americans in their
efforts to root out the German spies, along with their Irish and East
Indian compatriots, and foil their plans to smuggle arms to the
Central Powers. Meanwhile, the U.S. responds to the revolution in
Mexico, led by Pancho Villa, by closing down railroad lines that run
too close to the southern border. This puts the train station on
Third Street in San Bernardino into the position of a major hub for
the transportation of both freight and passengers traveling east and
west across the continent.
In the midst of
international intrigue, San Bernardino's first Chief of Police,
Walter Shay, investigates seven unnatural deaths, three of which are
children who were poisoned and three of which were adults who
apparently committed suicide. The seventh was an adult man who died
in an apparently accidental drowning in Lake Baldwin, a mountain lake
near Big Bear. These appear to be local matters with no connection to
the wider world.
The book follows the
newspaper reports of the day, since the police reports no longer
exist or at least cannot be found. The authors of focus on Cora
Stanton, who almost certainly is not Cora Stanton. Her lifeless body
was pulled out of the lake at Urbita Springs, a park that was built
in the present location of the Inland Center Mall. Although the lake
and park are gone, you can still find traces of them in the landscape
around the shopping center. Cora, or whoever she was, had poison
tablets in her stomach, but the coroner determined that the cause of
death was drowning. Her apparent suicide might be a murder committed
as part of a black magic working. Was she used to symbolize Core, the
goddess of the Spring who descended into the land of the dead in
Greek myth, or was she just an unfortunate woman who decided to take
her own life? Follow the threads in this fascinating tale of local
history and make up your own mind.
The Kindle edition is
available at:
Walter Bosley’s
updates and links to purchase the paperback edition are available at:
~~~
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