A Murder, a Mystery, and a Marriage

An unpublished Mark Twain story surfaces 125 years after it was first written. Set in the quaint hollow of Deer Lick, a mythical town resembling Mark Twain's Hannibal, Missouri, this bizarre tale chronicles the fortunes of humble farmer John Gray, determined to marry off his daughter Mary to the scion of the town's wealthiest family. But the sudden appearance of a stranger found lying unconscious in the snow not only derails Gray's plans but also leads to a murder whose solution lies at the heart of this tale. Written in 1876 between Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the story was composed as a "blindfold novelette" that Twain planned to launch as a competition for writers, including Henry James and William Dean Howells. But the competition never took place, and the story, enjoined for decades from publication by the Twain estate, was thought by many to have been lost. Published here for the first time in book form and beautifully illustrated, it will delight Twain fans old and new alike. 6 four-color illustrations.