How lucky we were to host the launch and signing of James Markert’s new historical fiction/thriller The Strange Case of Isaac Crawley! It was great to see James and all his readers come together, share a story, and explore the Portland Museum.
You may recognize the cover of the book as being from our co-director Danny Seim. You’d be correct! Danny not only drew the portrait of Isaac Crawley, which you can find on the walls of the museum as a part of the Portland Timeline, but also designed the whole cover, front and back!
Thanks so much to James Market and all those who came to support him for making this event such a success!
If you’re interested in reading The Strange Case of Isaac Crawley for yourself, check out its publisher’s website here!
From that same publisher, here’s a description of the book:
Isaac Crawley has just returned home from London and is obsessed with the Jekyll and Hyde play, which has opened at Macaulay’s Theater in Louisville, Kentucky. During his travels, Isaac has developed an opium habit, a propensity for blackouts, and noticeable changes in behavior. On the fourth night of the show, a body is found on the riverbank, butchered like Jack the Ripper’s first victim, and since Isaac was in London during the horrific killing spree, the police think Isaac may be the Ripper himself.
More bodies are found, eerily linked to the Ripper, and as evidence points toward Isaac, his former alienist, Dr. Blackwood, steps in, locking him away in the Lakeland Asylum in a desperate effort to keep him safe. What Dr. Blackwood discovers lurking inside Isaac’s mind needs to be destroyed to save him, but it also holds the key to finding the real killer, who is still out in the streets, imitating the Ripper.
