Hell's Hangman

An unknown person, working by night, desecrates the grave of one of Apache Gap's former leading citizens leaving a sinister, cryptic message on the tombstone. A few nights later, another elderly leading citizen is dragged from his sickbed in the night and hanged from a tree in his own backyard. Addison Tuck, the new sheriff, has no idea of the hangman's identity or motive. The War Between the States ended 22 years before, but the hangings of former community leaders, each a former...
More Description

An unknown person, working by night, desecrates the grave of one of Apache Gap's former leading citizens leaving a sinister, cryptic message on the tombstone. A few nights later, another elderly leading citizen is dragged from his sickbed in the night and hanged from a tree in his own backyard. Addison Tuck, the new sheriff, has no idea of the hangman's identity or motive. The War Between the States ended 22 years before, but the hangings of former community leaders, each a former slave-owner, bring long-simmering Civil War hatreds to a boil and move respectable citizens to violence. Tuck is himself marked for death by a professional gunman and his beautiful blond sweetheart is the target of vile, lascivious thugs. Unearthing long-buried tales from an aging abolitionist and clues from the town's undertaker, Tuck learns the truth about a war-time atrocity. Only then does he finally understand the avenger's motive and moves to track down the soulless hangman.