It’s been a long time coming—Tuck’s new adventure as The Dead Detective. His first three published novels, Dying to Know, Dying for the Past, and Dying to Tell, all originally hit the shelves over ten years ago. Thanks to my fab agent, Kimberley Cameron, and most-excellent new publisher, Level Best Books, Tuck and his pals were republished last year—with three more casefiles arriving 2025-2027!
It’s been a haul. It’s been nerve wracking. Above all, it’s been an adventure all by itself to bring Tuck back to life (kinda) and have him face some of my favorite new cases that had been simmering on my brain for those ten years.
Dying With A Secret is one of those fav’s I’ve been waiting to get to you. The story, as always, has three key plots that collide at the end. First, there’s the murder of a federal agent at Winchester’s historic Handley Library. Was it Ebola? An alien death ray? Or a crappy AI generated novel plot (sorry, couldn’t resist). Next, we find something new about Tuck’s ethereal family history—Sally Elizabeth Mosby—the sexy and cunning Civil War spy and his great-times-a-bunch great-grandmother. Finally in my Dead Detective trifecta is the historic subplot—the hunt for the mysterious Beale Treasure. The true treasure hunting story is partially inspired the blockbuster movie, National Treasure—yep—that one.
So what is the Beale Treasure? Here’s a snapshot.
The story goes that in 1885, an odd 50 cent pamphlet was sold that told the story of a massive treasure found by T.J. Beale (no relation) somewhere in the north of Santa Fe. Beale and his pals hid the treasure in Virginia and left behind three coded clues in a strong box given to a tavern owner in Lynchburg, Virginia. Long story short, after many years, attempts to decode the messages began but failed. Later, some of the codes were broken and revealed information on the treasure’s location and contents. The hunt for the treasure began in the late 1800’s and continues to this day.
But wait, the real cool part is that one of the coded messages was broken using … wait for it … the Declaration of Independence! Just like National Treasure (or the other way around).
At one point in modern history, a rumor swirled that even the National Security Administration—the NSA—got involved in breaking the codes. This has never been acknowledged by the US Government. Gee… I wonder …
The hunt for the Beale Treasure is perhaps one of the biggest and most noteworthy treasure stories in the US. Bar none.
According to National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and the History Channel (among others), about half of the notable treasure hunters in the US believe the treasure is the greatest hoax in American history. The other half are dead-set on finding it. They just have to find the secrets left behind.
So… Dying With A Secret? Guess.
Until next time, Yasoo, Adieu, Adios, and all that—see ya soon and be safe!
