The Missouri River Murders is an interesting story of Captain Culpepper, a steamboat captain and his colorful passengers who travel the Missouri river navigating the treacherous river while living their lives of intrique and mystery. Travel from one area of the country during the time immediately following the Civil War was challenging and dangerous. Individuals were carving out adventures and a means of supporting themselves; joining partnerships with strangers that could result in connecting with some unsavory people.
The Missouri river had to be carefully navigated because of the shallowness in some places and because of the debris in the water in other areas…this was not the only danger. Steamboats themselves had the potential for fires and explosions…not to mention, gamboling and violence by those very passengers who had little to do while they traveled. You had to be prepared to make many stops to find wood sellers who could keep the steamships supplied in enough wood to keep the boilers operating or the steamers would become disabled on the river. Today, we take travel for granted…but to those who had limited choices in getting to their points of destination…traveling the Missouri river was a necessity.
Murders that took place both before the steamship took off, and once the trip was underway, needed to be solved for the well-being of those said passengers. How did Captain Culpepper and his crew protect the passengers and get to the bottom of the crimes that were taking place? This is a story that David E. Unruh tells with style and grace, weaving into the plot little tidbits about steamboat travel; and a time, in our nation, when law and order were still being defined. This book was copyrighted in 2011 and published by Avalon Books.