Welcome! I’m Duke Southard, an author, retired educator, and lecturer.

I have published seven novels, a commissioned history, and an anthology of
award-winning short stories and essays.

Please check out my blog where I write about true crime and a wide ranging variety of literary and everyday subjects.

My Programs

My programs are offered free of charge to any schools, public libraries, and educational/community groups.

Free Book

Grab a free copy of my book, The Week from Heaven and Hell

My Books

View a list of my published books, including Tainted Justice.

Recent Posts

Conspiracies-Yet Again!

Most conspiracy theories are disproved by one thing-facts. Think of any conspiracy, whether it be national or international, such as a presidential assassination, a "rigged" election,or a Benghazi cover-up, or a local story, like two murders occurring over a short...

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Bobbie Miller and Stacey Burns-What’s happening?

This will be a very brief post. Well over seven years ago, Stacey Burns was stabbed to death in her own bedroom in New Hampshire. Just over six years ago, Bobbie Miller was murdered in her own home in New Hampshire. Isn't it a fair question for family, friends, and...

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Next up- Anarchy

I'm feeling very sorry for our children and grandchildren right now. No matter who wins this election, I see no way that this country can overcome the amount of hatred, division, and bigotry that has been generated during this campaign. If Trump wins, people say they...

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Power and Greed

Motive, means, and opportunity- the mantra recited by any homicide investigator  as he begins to sort out the suspects in a crime. We all know the detectives in the Stacey Burns murder case have this all figured out as they continue the intense investigation into this...

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A Failed Experiment?

In an allegorical piece titled "The Failed Experiment," I call attention to the Biblical Divine Council, a group of six who are helping the Sovereign make decisions about the fate of the human race. Here is what the advocate for the continent of North America has to...

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Listening to our critics

Could the New Hampshire State Police and  State Attorney General's Office learn from this? On November 20, 2016, I will be speaking to the Society of Southwestern Authors monthly forum on the subject of "Listening To Our Inner (and Outer) Critics."  The program will...

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My Tom Brokaw letter

This is a part of a letter I wrote to Tom Brokaw in January, 1999. Its subject was his book on the "greatest generation." However, perhaps it is as applicable today as it was then. The idealism mentioned is that of the members of that incredible World War II...

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Embarrassed and Ashamed

Our good Canadian friends often ask how the Stacey Burns murder case is coming as they are well aware of the long time I've been working on Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns. Lately, they have been asking an additional rhetorical question about...

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Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut never gave the MIT graduation speech for which he often receives the credit: the so-called "sunscreen speech." He did comment that he would have been proud if the words had indeed been his. I have always loved Kurt Vonnegut and I loved to teach any of...

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Announcement

4th year in a row-a finalist in the NM/AZ Book Awards, this time in two fiction categories. November 18- winners announced-Will the fourth time be a charm? 2013-a Favor Returned, 2014-Agent for Justice, 2015-Live Free or Die- now,2016, Cracks in the Wall. My fingers...

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Intense effort?

I will repeat here my answer to one correspondent who asked about the duffle bag found in the yard of a neighbor of Stacey Burns quite a while back. "Much like everything else in this case, there is no clear explanation nor description of the duffle bag other than...

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On Loss and Credibility . . .

"The loss of such a worthwhile person in a world that cries out for compassionate people remains a question that I hope and pray I'll have answered some day. Until then, memories will have to suffice . . ." This quote is taken from my book, The Week from Heaven and...

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