As promised in the previous post, I will occasionally be sharing small segments of my unfinished and unpublished book, Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns.  As everyone is aware, this book will never be finished because the “Arrest/Trial/Conviction” chapters obviously cannot be written. The narrative of this story has changed over the years since I wrote the first one hundred and seventy pages or so, with angles I had not dreamed of entering the picture. However, here is how the book begins.

                                                                                                                                 Chapter One

                                                                                                                           A Prelude To Murder

Friday, May 8, 2009

Stacey Burns never saw the dawn of Mothers’ Day on May 10, 2009. That particular festive weekend of celebration with special family gatherings and the welcoming of spring assumes a surreal quality when examined in hindsight. The residents of the small New Hampshire town of Wolfeboro, which bills itself as the “oldest summer resort in America,” no doubt were enjoying the start of a relaxing few days of gardening, puttering around the house, and generally relishing the “TGIF” moments late Friday afternoon. At about the same time as so many prepared for what promised to be a beautiful weekend in all respects, Ed Burns stopped by Stacey’s house to pick up their three youngest girls for a Mothers’ Day weekend visit. As the car left the driveway, the girls likely waved goodbye with the characteristic enthusiasm of young children.

They would not see their mother alive again. Stacey had about thirty-six hours to live.

Interested in seeing more?  Let me know!

Duke