Book Review

Rod Miller's The Assassination of Governor Boggs is a fascinating read.

From the back cover: After an attempted assassination, Governor Lilburn Boggs couldn't prove who'd taken a shot at him, leaving the identity of his assailant a mystery. Twenty-five years later and after the passing of Gov. Boggs, Detective Calvin Pogue has been hired by the Boggs family to open this cold case and find out the truth about the assassin. From Missouri to California and into the heart of the Utah Territory, Detective Pogue relentlessly seeks clues that lead him to the legendary Mormon gunman Porter Rockwell--who still isn't making things easy for anyone! Join Detective Pogue as he steps into this hair-raising mystery and tracks down Gov. Bogg's enemies and friends to a finale you won't believe.
  This historical novel is not a quick, easy read. Miller packed so much information into these pages that it took considerable focus. The purpose of teaching Mormon and political history during the time frame through story form hits its mark with so many spoonfuls of fact and opinion that lead the reader to draw his own (though somewhat slanted) conclusion. The investigative nature of the book lends itself well to fact-finding events.
  What I liked: The historical elements, of course. I enjoyed the contrast of Rockwell's rough storytelling woven between the proper detective's fact-finding. Miller's writing added the flavor of the times and occasional verb inventions taken from nouns. Pogue stiff-legged his way somewhere, thumbed his button into place, or paged through his notebook.
  What I didn't like: The unsettling feeling of murder condoned by righteous indignation or by church leadership. The times were definitely different, but it's hard to wrap my head around this concept. If you like happy-ever-after endings, you'll find some trouble here--though more to the fault of history than the author. There was also a place or two where it felt like a fact info dump, but was easily forgiven. Overall, I believe many readers, especially western and history buffs, would enjoy this novel.
  Here is the purchase link:  http://www.amazon.com/Assassination-Governor-Boggs-Rod-Miller/dp/1599558637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322631107&sr=8-1