Moonlight

On August 29, 1857, in the light of a three-quarter moon, James Metzger was savagely beaten by two assailants in a grove not far from his home. Two days later he died and his assailants, James Norris and William Armstrong, were arrested and charged with his murder. Norris was tried and convicted first. As William "Duff" Armstrong waited for his trial, his own father died. James Armstrong's deathbed wish was that Duff's mother, Hannah, engage the best lawyer possible to defend Duff. The best person Hannah could think of was a friend, a young lawyer from Springfield by the name of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln took the case and with that begins one of the oddest journeys Lincoln took on his trek towards immortality. What really happened? How much did the moon reveal? What did Lincoln really know? Walsh makes a strong case for viewing Honest Abe in a different light in this tale of murder and moonlight.

Moonlight is a 2001 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime.

A new study of an 1857 murder trial sheds new light on the vaunted character of Abraham Lincoln. Walsh makes a strong case for viewing Honest Abe differently in this true tale of murder and moonlight. 16-page photo insert.
John Evangelist Walsh is the author of more than a dozen books of history and biography, including Midnight Dreary: The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe; Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution; and The Shadows Rise: Abraham Lincoln and the Ann Rutledge Legend.

"A fascinating study of an intriguing case." --Kirkus Reviews

"It is closely argued, painstakingly documented and nicely written. A slim volume, it nevertheless packs a lot of intriguing information..." --Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

"Although absolute proof is elusive after the dust of more than 140 years, Walsh's book is still fascinating reading since it proves that history is never as cut and dried as we might think and that all of our greatest heroes - such as Lincoln - were human and not without flaws." --Arizona Daily Star