BLOODY GROUND:
Stories of Mystery and Intrigue from Kentucky
by Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet
Jesse Stuart Foundation, 2001 ($15.00) Trade paperback
ISBN:1-931672-01-6
Reviewed by Rick McMahan
Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet have been teaching and writing together for over two decades. The two have written numerous mysteries under their pen name of Hal Charles. Over time, Hal Charles has written numerous articles for Writer's Digest Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and other mystery publications, as well as co-authoring writing books for Writer's Digest (PRIVATE EYES: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS AND CHARACTER NAMING SOURCEBOOK). For a period of time they were the writing team for the lead story of the Mike Shane Mystery Magazine. In addition, in the forthcoming edition of John Breen's THE YEAR'S BEST MYSTERY ANTHOLOGY, one of their recent short stories ("Moody's Blues") will be included. These prolific mystery writers have published an anthology of their own fiction, BLOODY GROUND.
In their introduction to BLOODY GROUND, Blythe and Sweet tell the reader how they came to write about Kentucky, the Bluegrass state, and how the history and personalities of the region fed their imagination for mysteries. Some of the stories are historical adventures (like "Bloody Ground" and "The Shadow of Death"), but a lot of the tales take place in the imaginary Clement County (KY). Central and Eastern Kentucky can be violent rural areas, and Clement County has a higher body count than the Hatfield and McCoy feud. Many a man have died at the Cutler Marathon, and many a nefarious criminal plot was watched over breakfast at the same Cutler Marathon.
Though, Mr. Breen was astute to pick a Blythe-Sweet story for inclusion in his Best of Mystery Anthology, my personal favorite tale is one in the BLOODY GROUND anthology, "Slave Wall." It's a tale of a man who returns to his roots, and he ends up finding the answer to who murdered his father, an answer he's not ready to accept.
One of my favorite things about the mystery stories penned as Hal Charles is that the writing duo time-and-time-again demonstrate that mysteries don't have to be set in big cities or exotic locations, that some of the darkest alleys to be walked may very well be a shadow filled holler of a lonely mountain in Kentucky.
Hopefully Hal Blythe and Charlie Sweet will find time in their busy schedule of teaching and prolific writing to turn their attention to spinning a mystery novel, which is long overdue. However, until they do, I encourage you to pick up BLOODY GROUND for some well-written and entertaining mysteries.
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