Swains Lock: About the Novel

In 1995, Vin Illick is at loose ends after relocating to suburban Maryland with his fiancee Nicky Hayes. Scavenging planks from an abandoned shed near the defunct Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, he finds a cryptic note, dated March 29, 1924, that begins and ends as follows:

Charlie,

If it is April and I am missing, I fear I have been killed because of what happened today at Swains Lock. I may be buried along with the others at the base of three joined sycamores…

…one tree leads to the money, the second leads to the killers and the third leads to the dead. In your search for me you may find the truth. Be careful you don't share my fate.

Yours respectfully, Lee Fisher

The note is accompanied by a photograph of an attractive young couple posed above a sprawling waterfall. Penciled on the back of the photo are the words "L. Fisher and K. Elgin at Great Falls."

Nicky wants him to search for a job, but Vin becomes determined to find "Lee Fisher's truth." Was Lee killed and buried along with the others? What about the money? And what happened at Swains Lock?

Pursuing threads in the note, Vin encounters fresh clues that seem intended for him. His investigation turns life-threatening in the woods and he suspects that a recent acquaintance – a young widow associated with two accidental deaths – is stalking his search. Why? Vin finally finds Lee's joined sycamores only to learn that the past won't stay buried, and that a confrontation with destiny and vengeance awaits him at Swains Lock.

"The whole history of locks and the floods and the people whose lives revolved around them... fascinating. It reminded me a little bit of the John McPhee books, of which I am a great fan.

...the pace is good. Good tension, good revelations. Good surprise ending... had me ripping through it to reach the conclusion."

Sandy W, Palm Desert, CA

"Very well researched and an interesting read... memorable characters and suspenseful scenes. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck at many points and kept me interested to the end."

Chris S, Springfield, VA

"I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed your book and I hope to read anything more that you write."

Sue E, Reno, NV

"I got caught up in the story and liked it a lot... The book reads to me like the real thing."

Kirsten J, Baltimore, MD

"I just finished your book. Awesome. Loved it. Great ending."

Jamie N, Arlington, VA

"I got really hooked in various places and pages flew by, particularly the last 70 or so... One can learn a lot reading the book. It is more than just a mystery... I think it would make a great movie too!"

Bob M, Seneca, MD

• SWAINS LOCK is a historical mystery that is available as an ebook. In standard format (12-point Times New Roman, double-spaced, one-inch margins), the unpublished print manuscript is 360 pages long.

• The undammed Potomac is the world's wildest urban river.

• The floods of 1924, 1972, and 1996 struck on the dates depicted in the novel and funneled more than three times the volume of Niagara Falls over the Potomac River's Great Falls and through its Mather Gorge.

• The Potomac suffers comparable floods roughly once per generation.

• In the 1750s, George Washington envisioned a canal alongside the Potomac River that would skirt the river's impassable rapids and open a trade route between the Virginia tidewater and the fertile Ohio Country beyond the Allegheny Mountains.

• Construction of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal finally began in 1828 and was completed in 1850. The C&O Canal extends 185 miles from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. to Cumberland, Maryland in the Allegheny Mountains.

• Major and minor floods on the Potomac closed the C&O Canal several times during its 75-year life. The catastrophic flood of March, 1924 ended operations on the canal forever.

• In 1971, the C&O Canal became a National Historical Park. Today the U.S. Park Service states that "millions of visitors hike or bike the C&O Canal each year to enjoy the natural, cultural and recreational opportunities...".

Ted Stabler has spent hundreds of days exploring the C&O Canal and kayaking on the Potomac River near Great Falls. He and his wife Martha live in Arlington, VA with two large dogs, three adult cats, and an unending stream of orphaned kittens they foster for a local animal-rescue organization.

Send questions or comments to ted (at) vesalius (dot) com.