Will Rees

3 primary works

A Simple Murder

by Eleanor Kuhns

Published 1 May 2012

It is 1796. For several years Will Rees, a travelling weaver and former soldier, too bereaved from the death of his wife to be a proper father, has left his son in the care of his sister. Visiting unexpectedly, he discovers his son has been treated like a peasant and has run away. Rees tracks him to a Shaker settlement near Durham, Maine, where David is angry at his father and protected by the community. While waiting for a chance at reconciliation, Rees decides to ply his trade. After spending the first night in a farmer's barn he rides into town and is arrested for the murder of a young Shaker woman. After the farmer provides Rees with an alibi and he is released, Elder White, a Shaker leader wary of the sheriff, asks Rees to investigate the murder. Rees accepts the commission that will keep him close to his son, but as Rees learns the ways of the community he discovers that solving Sister Chastity's murder will uncover some members' darkest secrets.

Death of a Dyer

by Eleanor Kuhns

Published 18 June 2013

Will Rees feels at home. It's been a long time since he last felt this way--not since before his wife died years ago and he took to the road as a traveling weaver. Now, in 1796, Rees is back on his Maine farm, living with his teenaged son, David, and his housekeeper, Lydia--whose presence contributes more towards his happiness than he's ready to admit. But his domestic bliss is shattered the morning a visitor brings news of an old friend's murder.

Nate Bowditch and Rees hadn't spoken in many long years, but as children they were closer than brothers, and Rees feels his loss acutely. Asked to look into the circumstances surrounding Nate's death, Rees simply can't refuse. At the Bowditch farmstead, Rees quickly discovers that everyone--from Nate's frosty wife to his missing son to the shy serving girl--is hiding something. But are any of them actually capable of murder? Or does the answer lie elsewhere, behind stones no one even knew needed unturning?

Death of a Dyer once again proves Eleanor Kuhns's remarkable ability to spin a captivating story of a fascinating era and capture the light and darker sides of human nature on the page.

The Shaker Murders

by Eleanor Kuhns

Published 31 October 2018

A peaceful Shaker community is rocked by a series of bizarre accidents, but is there more to them than first appears?

Fresh from facing allegations of witchcraft and murder, travelling weaver Will Rees, his heavily pregnant wife Lydia and six adopted children take refuge in Zion, a Shaker community in rural Maine. Shortly after their arrival, screams in the night reveal a drowned body . but is it murder or an unfortunate accident? The Shaker Elders argue it was just an accident, but Rees believes otherwise.

As Will investigates further, more deaths follow and a young girl vanishes from the community. Haunted by nightmares for his family's safety, Rees must rush to uncover the truth before the dreams can become reality and more lives are lost. Yet can the Shaker Elders be trusted, or is an outsider involved?