The story begins with Ulysses S. Grant (née Hiram Grant) arriving in this hometown after the Civil War. One must understand that even in Ohio, the town was split down the middle with sympathizers for North and South. His welcoming includes speeches, cheers, jeers and finding a dead man in his hotel bed. And so begins our mystery, who is this man, and does he have anything to do with a potential plot to harm Grant and his wife?

I really enjoyed the conflicted nature that Mr. Marks gave to Grant; not just at having to come home and face his childhood past, but also the more recent and horrific war past. I also really enjoyed Grant’s relationship with his wife. Mr. Marks made her strong without being a shrew, and she is totally relatable. (She just knows what she wants and makes her feelings known to her husband, subtle though the facial expressions may be to others.)

I recommend this book for anyone interested in Grant, the post Civil War era or satisfying mysteries in general. The ending, is so good (I can’t even begin, without ruining it); it just has a great surprising and suspenseful ending - like I wrote, if you like mysteries, you'll enjoy this one. And for full disclosure, I did receive this as part of the Goodreads First Reads program. ( )

Intriguing mystery, set just after the end of the Civil War. General Ulysses Grant is on a tour around the county as a prelude to declaring his intent to run for President. One of the first stops is in Grant's boyhood town of Georgetown, OH. When Grant and his wife Julia head to their hotel room they are shocked to find a dead man lying in their bed.

With an intrepid reporter, a Pinkerton agent shadowing him, and a town that seems to both like and hate him, Grant is determined to find out who the dead man is, and why he was placed in the Grants room. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story that also include a bit of romantic confusion with an old flame showing up in the hotel to rile up Julia.

I really enjoyed this book, it is fairly short and a quick read but most of all it shows a slice of American history that I haven't spent a lot of time reading about, so it made this even a bit more special. ( )

Lost interest after 100 pages. Grant and other characters were not very interesting. ( )

As a general rule, I don't like detective fiction that uses a historical character as a detective, but this novel isn't bad. General Ulysses S. Grant returns to his hometown, Georgetown, Ohio, after the war to test the waters for a Presidential run. He is shown into his room in the town's best hotel, only to find a dead body on the bed. The murderer is a historical character as well and a bit of a surprise. Credible historical fiction with maybe a few too many modern idioms, but it was fun and it held my interest. ( )