Dr. Emma’s Improbable Happenings: A tale of murder, the Clallam shipwreck, and the true cost of gold

A TALE OF MURDER, THE SS CLALLAM SHIPWRECK, AND THE TRUE COST OF GOLD The 20th Century opens with unbridled growth in the frontier town of Seattle. Suffragettes demand the vote, women insist on more freedoms, and Emma Prescott strives to become a doctor. The Old West is giving way to the promise of the New.DR. EMMA’S IMPROBABLE HAPPENINGS begins when the last two members of the Hole in the Wall gang burst into the Prescott Boarding House. There, one outlaw hides his stolen Klondike gold from the other, whose nickname Cutter bespeaks his finesse with a knife. Cutter returns to find the riches. He murders Emma’s mother and grandmother who manage the boarding house, but he fails to locate the gold. Now he’s on the hunt for Emma, who escapes with the nuggets. The young physician, grieving her family, flees Seattle on the ill-fated ferry SS Clallam which sinks in a wild storm on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Many lives are lost, but Emma survives. She believes her pursuer has drowned, but just in case, she disappears to the frontier settlement of Port Angeles. Emma practices herbal medicine, discovers romance, and develops friendships among Native Americans, suffragettes, and working girls. But the day comes when she must confront the outlaw who stalks her. The reckoning occurs at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Oregon…where the high price of gold may cost Emma everything.DR. EMMA’S IMPROBABLE HAPPENINGS is historical American fiction. While the characters are imaginary, the history is fact. Author Linda B. Myers is a recent convert to Pacific Northwest historicals, but her PI Bear Jacobs mysteries have enjoyed an opinionated and highly loyal following for years.