The Echoes of L'Arbre Croche Book

Mystery, intrigue, romance, and history in a novel set on the Great Lakes

Publishers Weekly

Based on The Indian Drum (1917) by William MacHarg and Edwin Balmer, Johnston's first novel, a Dickensian murder mystery set on the Great Lakes in the early 20th century, is largely a retelling of the earlier book. As a brief skim of The Indian Drum (available on Google Books) reveals, Johnston has retained characters' names and duplicated scenes with only minor variations. Even on its own terms, the story of 23-year-old Alan Conrad's search for the truth about his real father, the identity of his anonymous financial benefactor, and the whereabouts of shipping magnate Benjamin Corvet, isn't all that exciting. Despite a sound premise-that the motive for Corvet's suspected murder may be connected with a shipwreck two decades earlier-and the legend of a drum that tolls a beat for every life lost in Lake Michigan, this regional historical delivers few chills.
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