Harry Grouch

The Witch of Maple Park is compelling fiction inspired by a true story.

The True Story: On Christmas Eve, 1843, on Staten Island, N.Y., Emeline Houseman and her baby are gruesomely axe murdered and dismembered. Her sister-in-law, Polly Bodine is accused of the crime and branded "The Witch of Staten Island."

The New Story: On Christmas Eve, 1993, in a Detroit suburb, Kathy Black Marlowe, a blind jazz singer and her dog, are similarly axe murdered and dismembered. Her sister-in-law, Polly Marlowe, is accused of the killing and branded "The Witch of Maple Park." The cantankerous private eye, Harry Grouch, and his attractive lover/sidekick, Judy Pacas, are one gut-wrenching step ahead of a ruthless Prosecuting Attorney and Police Chief, both of whom are conspiring to pin the grisly slaying on Polly Marlowe. And how to explain the astonishing parallels between the tales of the two Polly's? Coincidence? Reincarnation? Prevarication? Harry Grouch must decide.