The Image of Rachel Clair

Is death the end of one's life?

How a ninety-year-old murder couldn't tear their love apart.

Birmingham, Alabama 1995

While researching architectural design at the Birmingham Public Library, Rachel Montgomery discovers a 1909 newspaper headline that stops her cold. It describes the murder of an unnamed young woman in Coal Springs.  Rachel is intrigued since her late family was from Coal Springs, and murder there was never mentioned. A later article about the crime describes the trial of James Cason, the accused. and the cruel scrutiny against the young victim by the church elite. Rachel Montgomery was obsessed and had to find out more...

Coal Springs, Alabama 1905

Rachel Clair is a lovely and innocent farm girl who never defied authority until her best friend, Lolly, begs her to secretly watch their older classmate, Ned McClure, swim in the nude. Soon Ned and his parents are forced out of their beloved ‘Serenity Farm’ and Coal Springs in disgrace by the cruel community and Rachel would never forget him.

Ned returns to Coal Springs when hired along with three others by Rachel's father for the fall harvest. Rachel's feelings for Ned are realized, but she finds herself attracted to another farmhand, James Cason. When one night of shame shatters Rachel's simple life, she is forced into an abusive marriage by her parents and the church elite.

When the body of a young woman is found in local Cain Creek, Ned's abandoned Serenity Farm with its ghostly inhabitants, guide two relentless amateurs to resist the sheriff's authority and conduct their own investigation into the murder. They discover a key piece of evidence and unearth age-old dirty secrets that will topple the ‘pillars of the community’ and solve the unspeakable crime.