Nighthawk’s Wing: A Gideon Stoltz Mystery

Set in 1836, Fergus’s superior sequel to 2019’s A Stranger Here Below finds Gideon Stoltz, the sheriff of Colerian County, Pa., suffering from severe memory loss, unsure of his age or the circumstances leading to his falling off his horse and injuring his head. As Stoltz struggles to remember what his duties as sheriff entail, he must investigate the suspicious death of Rebecca Kreidler, whose body was found in a sinkhole. Some in the community suspect Rebecca was a witch. The victim of domestic violence, Rebecca fatally pushed her husband down some stairs after he hit her in her abdomen when she was pregnant. She served time for manslaughter, but now it turns out someone has killed her, possibly by driving a horseshoe nail into her skull. Stoltz’s inquiries are complicated by his concern, based on fragments of memories, that he may have been responsible for Rebecca’s death. Fergus brings the period to life as he expertly melds setting and plot. Eleanor Kuhns fans will be pleased. Agent: Natalia Aponte, Aponte Literary. (Feb.)