Publisher's Synopsis
There had never before been a murder in Plymouth colony. In a community founded on such high ideals and strong principles, the very idea was unthinkable, but the facts were undeniable: John Newcomen had been shot and killed by someone. But by whom? When Governor William Bradford voices his suspicion of John Billington, somewhat of an outsider whose penchant for public drunkenness makes him an easy scapegoat, his own son rushes to the man's defense. Twelve-year-old John Bradford understands what it's like to live outside of his father's good graces. It seems to him that every little mistake earns a harsh reprimand, but nothing he could ever do would win his father's approval. This historical novel brings together the drama of a murder mystery and the complexities of the relationship between a father and his son to provide a glimpse of what life might have been like growing up in the young colony as it too struggled to determine its course and its identity.
