*I did receive a e-copy for review of this novel, but it does not change my outlook on the book.*

First off I do have to say that if you are unfamiliar with the layout and towns of Iowa, this book might be harder for you to understand. As a lot of information pertaining to certain distances between towns and descriptive scenes of life within towns are prevalent throughout this book. There is also a lot of extra history that is shared about places, events, and history of certain people. It reminded me of the way “The Grapes of Wrath” is set up.

Now, because I was born and raised in Iowa I was fully knowledgeable of everything that the author was describing. This is the advantage that I had for this book being read smoothly without any confusion. I really enjoyed reading all the mystery surrounding the events of the night of the fire. I found myself constantly second guessing myself about what “really” happened and whose body was actually found. Even more intriguing was trying to answer “Why”.

The author was able to paint the story in a way that is probably as accurate as you can get, without being there in person. If you are a True-Crime freak {like I am} you are sure to fall in love with the history of this case. Keep in mind though that it could be a difficult read in some instances if you don’t know much about Iowa. ( )

As long as you don’t take the “birth of circumstantial evidence” bit too seriously, this is an entertaining true crime book. Or, at least, so it seemed to me, but I seldom read in the genre.

While Kaufman briefly, in a footnote, talks about how many times the case was cited in future law, that’s not the focus of this book. He also makes it clear that it wasn’t even the first trial in America to feature circumstantial evidence to get a murder conviction.

Think of this as the literary equivalent of one of those cable true crime stories: seemingly respectable business man who turns out to have a quite shady past of probable arson and murder, a dead body of disputed identity and disputed cause of death, a spectacular flight from Iowa to the gold rush in the Yukon, an unflappable and energetic manhunter who will risk any danger to close with his quarry, colorful attorneys, and possible redemption in prison. It’s all delivered with clarity, completeness, and with a fast pace. Kaufman is eminently readable and only repeats himself to make sure you’re keeping all the characters straight (many of whom prefer initials to Christian names).

Kaufman even gives you a roundup of what happened later in the lives of all his principals.

The pleasure is not so much in the crime and criminal. Frank Novak seems a too familiar type of killer. It’s in Kaufman’s many sidetrips: the role of private detective agencies in late 19th century America, prison reform movements, and, best of all, the danger and exertion of seeking gold in the Yukon.

It seems a simple story, but, as the footnotes makes clear, a lot of sources had to be pulled together to create such a coherent story. There are also photos of most of the main characters. I read the book in galley form provided by the publisher, but it looks like a nice map of the Yukon settings is provided. ( )

On the night of February 3, 1897 in Walford, Iowa, a fire broke out. Frank Novak’s general store was ablaze and everybody thought he was trapped inside. Instead, a night guard, one Edward Murray, was inside and Novak had fled the scene. No evidence could be found of how the building caught fire, why Murray was inside and unable to get out, or what part if anything Novak played in the act. It was left to county prosecutor M. J. Tobin and his hired detectives to chase down the fleeing suspect and get some answers. Peter Kaufman’s Skull in the Ashes tells the tale of how they went about the arrest and trial of Novak and how exactly circumstantial evidence could be used in a trial.

The cast of characters here includes Frank Novak, the American-born son of Bohemian immigrants trying to make a name for himself in small-town Iowa; Edward Murray, the unsuspecting clerk who had a penchant for both the drink and helping out people in town; M. J. Tobin, the newly-minted prosecutor who spent months piecing together the events leading up to and following the fire; “Red” Perrin, a rough-and-tumble old school detective who chased down Novak all the way into the heart of the Alaskan wilderness after he flees town; and Tom Milner, the wily defense attorney who tries everything under the sun to protect and free his client. I’ll try not to spoil too many of the details, but let’s just say justice prevails.

The story is compelling and full of twists and turns. Luckily, newspaper and historical accounts of the day have survived and Kaufman does a very good of threading all the information together. He tries desperately to be impartial, but you can tell he already knows how the story will end up and that bleeds into the writing a little bit. Even knowing the outcome somewhat, it was still pretty entertaining. Novak’s machinations while being chased down, tried, and sentenced make one grateful for a diverse and (mostly) impartial legal system. Luckily, this story doesn’t suffer from the burden of being over told; its 200 or so pages are just enough to get everyone’s story out there. It works well as a true-crime legal drama without being overly dramatic. A pleasant read. ( )