Chapter 20 synopsis: “The threat of snow had been building all day on December 22, 1925, and Mary, watching the weather deteriorate from her 4th-floor hotel room, had an important decision to make.”
Chapter 21 synopsis: “Mary acting out of desperation, prepares to leave the hotel for an ill-advised rendezvous despite the deteriorating weather. The storm increasing in its ferocity has the potential to be a life-threatening event for the unprepared.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads from his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapters 20 and 21 of the book, which are pages 114 through 120. The Author will release a video weekly and hopes that you’ll join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Chapter 18 synopsis: “In Chapter 18, we see Charles Patterson set a plan in motion that will lead to irreversible consequences and provide Joel ninety years later, a formidable missing person mystery to resolve.”
Chapter 19 synopsis: “Joel waking up to a frigid morning, is unaware that a cold front had slid down from Canada during the night. With another day of research lined up, he hoped to find anything connecting Mary to his persons of interest. He finally gets a break when remembering a specific column he read in an old newspaper at the historical society.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads from his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapters 18 and 19 of the book, which are pages 104 through 113. The Author will release a video weekly and hopes that you’ll join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Ted Sanford ran his hand along the top of the low rock wall dividing his parent’s property from their neighbors. The wall, probably a hundred or more years old, built with cobblestones, was cool to the touch. It was nearly 5:00 PM, and in this part of the country, nightfall on October evenings came early. His overnight bag, already packed, Ted hoped he had not forgotten anything.
Greg Hanson, his best friend, was probably telling his planned sleepover story to his parents about now. The first phase of the plan accomplished earlier in the afternoon involved staging their bikes on the other side of the wall at the property’s back. The boy’s whole scheme involved spending the night at Look-Out-Point on Silver Lake. Today being Halloween, neither boy expected any pushback on their sleepover idea but knew the Silver Lake idea would hit a substantial roadblock.
A year older at 13, Greg was held back in sixth grade, struggled in school, and became a bit of a rabble-rouser. Ted, more academically inclined, liked Greg’s adventurous side even though he didn’t feel it always wise to go along. Taking a page from a daring Alcatraz escape in the sixties when Frank Morris fashioned a replica of his face and head to fool the guards, the boys planned to use pillows and other objects to duplicate their sleeping forms for the benefit of Ted’s parent’s. The boys escape route out Ted’s bedroom window, and down a sturdy trellis seemed foolproof.
Silver Lake, about a two-mile hike from Ted’s home, was a sizeable back-country lake with dozens of bays, inlets, and islands. Look-Out-Point, a narrow strip of land jutting into the lake, with an elevation of 30 feet or so above the water, had a grand view of the lake’s largest area of open water. The spit of land, mostly rock, and trees sloped toward the water and narrowed to only a few feet in width at its endpoint.
Like everyone else who lived in the area, the boys had heard the tale about a scorned bride perishing in the lake in the late 1800s. According to the story, she fled a local church in her wedding dress and later was spotted in a small rowboat on Silver Lake by a fisherman. She was rowing across the open water in the direction of Shank Island, one of the largest in the lake. A vicious storm came up with no warning and produced over six-foot-high waves, according to eyewitnesses. The townspeople never saw the woman or boat again.
Over the years, there had been reports of people hearing oars hitting the side of a wooden boat with nothing visible on the water. Other people reported seeing a single occupant dressed in white drifting 50 feet or so from the shoreline. Usually, the sightings occurred after a mist had formed on the water in the early morning hours. Look-Out-Point is one of several locations with reported sightings.
“Hey, Blandford,” Greg called as he hopped the fence into the backyard. Blandford, the nickname for Ted, stemmed from his reluctance to engage in dangerous or exciting activities.
“Hey Hamson,” Ted fired back. Ignoring the retort, Greg inquired if everything was in place.
Ted ticked them off, “supplies, check, bikes, check, sleepover story, check, items for stuffing under covers, check.”
“Oh, speaking of supplies, I have a surprise for you when we get to the lake,” Greg said.
“What?”
“ You got something in your ears? I just told you when we get to the lake,” Greg said, rolling his eyes.
“Alright, alright, let’s go to my room and check our supplies.”
Earlier, Ted found the tent he had used for camping with the scouts and stuffed it inside a pillowcase to bring to his room. The two spent the next hour going through provisions and considering that everything needed to be carried on their bikes and, on foot, for the last leg.
By 7:00 PM, most of the trick & treaters had finished for the evening, and Ted’s parents retired to the living room to watch TV. Deciding it was time to leave, the two boys crept out Ted’s window, across a short expanse of the roof and down the trellis on the side of the house.
A few minutes later, after making adjustments to their gear, the boys peddled the two neighborhood blocks to reach the dirt road leading to the lake. The cloudless night caused the temperature to drop rapidly after an unusually warm day for the time of year. The pair made good time on the dirt road, and within 20 minutes, had covered the two miles to the wooded trail leading to Look-Out-Point. The path, narrow and rocky, did not easily accommodate bikes, and the boys had previously planned to stash their bikes and go in on foot. Ted using his flashlight, guided the pair along the narrow path.
The trek through the woods, only a quarter of a mile in length, seemed to take longer and was more strenuous than the two-mile ride. Finally arriving at the site, they spent a few minutes in silence as the woods gave way to a splendid view of Silver Lake under a starry sky. Using the flashlight to pitch the tent, they then worked to gather wood for a fire. Finding wood in the dark proved challenging, and it took another thirty minutes before they had enough for a decent fire.
Building a fire created a cozy warmth for their campsite, and finally, with time to relax. Greg, grabbing his supplies, said, “check this out.” Ted watched as he pulled two tall cans of Budweiser from his stores along with a fresh, unopened pack of camel no-filter cigarettes.
“Holy crap,” Ted said, clearly impressed, “how d you get the smokes?”
“Stole ’em from the drugstore.”
Ted, unsure if he was kidding, decided not to pursue it but understood the difficulty of obtaining smokes at their age. The Budweiser was the only beer Greg’s dad drank, and he knew Greg had sneaked the cans from his supply.
Popping the tops and firing up a couple of smokes, they stared out at the night sky, lost in the splendor of the moment.
“Hey Blandford, you don’t believe all those stories about a ghost bride drifting around on the lake, do you?” In reality, Ted did tend to believe in the supernatural, but with the way Greg posed the question, he only managed a “yeah right.”
“Well, since this is Halloween and all, I say we bust that myth tonight,” Greg said before blowing a long stream of smoke into the night air.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with Halloween,” Ted said.
“Don’t matter if she floats around at night, and this is a spot where people have seen her; we should see her, right?” Ted wasn’t sure about the soundness of that logic but said “right,” anyway.
The boys finished their beers and smoked three more cigarettes while the fire burned down to embers. The chill of the night air drove them into their tent and eventually to sleep.
Ted, suddenly waking up, had a dire need to pee, and not wanting to leave his sleeping bag’s warmth, lay there for a few minutes wondering what time it was. Lying there, he had a slight memory of hearing a noise in the direction of the point when waking up.
Unable to wait any longer, Ted unzipped his sleeping bag enough to crawl outside the tent. Mist rising over the water covered its surface, settling into the depression of the lake between the shorelines. Ted venturing 20 feet or so down the path toward the point, stopped to relieve himself. The sound he thought he had heard earlier came again from somewhere nearer to the endpoint. It was a hollow sound like something hitting wood.
Ted could feel goosebumps raised on his arms as he stood still to listen. The sound came again, this time a series of bumps. With the stars out, the path had just enough illumination to navigate. Ted, looking back up the incline toward the tent, felt he could go a little further along the trail. After carefully walking another 50 feet down the path, he was closer to the water and found himself within the mist drifting ashore.
The sound ever closer, Ted strained to see through the dark. The land’s width here less than 20 feet, had a four to six-foot drop to the water. Slowly he crept another 20 feet until the earth became nearly even with the water. The mist coming in close intervals looked liked wispy curtains of moisture, and the bumping sound just to his right. Staring in the direction of the sound, he could make out the outline of the bow of a small boat. Too scared to turn away, he went closer until he could look down and see the rowboat was empty. He tried to reason that a fisherman had tied it to the rocky shore, but the story of the bride screamed in his mind.
Feeling a light brush on the back of his arm, Ted jerked his head sideways to see part of a dirty lace dress ragged and torn along its bottom from being dragged across the ground. Ted lurching forward, nearly lost his balance on the edge of the rocks. Looking back at the veiled figure, it stood motionless facing him. Ted, backing up to the edge of the shoreline, prayed the form would not come toward him. The mist’s curtains continued flowing in from the lake, and as each one moved between the trees, parts of the apparition drifted away until the form completely disappeared. Still mortified by what he had witnessed, Ted finally moved from the edge of the rocks and took a few steps into the wooded area. Looking back at the water, he was just in time to see the small boat with the lone figure disappear into the lake.
Chapter 17 synopsis: “Joel visiting the Seven Lakes Historical Society building, meets a local author who has written a book about early crimes and the people who committed them in the region. Still looking for any connection between Mary, Mr. Williams, and the two men in the photograph, he discovers new information about Seven Lakes and the person in charge of law enforcement in 1925.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads from his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapter 17 of the book, which are pages 98 through 103. The Author will release a video weekly and hopes that you’ll join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
On Halloween night, when other children are preparing for a fun evening of dressing up and going door to door collecting treats, there is a different scene playing out in Damascus, Virginia. Each year on Halloween in Damascus, shops close early, residents secure windows and doors, and parents gather their children inside close to them.
Nobody can say for sure when the phenomenon started or when it might end, or how long the residents will live in fear of Halloween night. Every year for as long as people can remember, the same horror plays out within the small community.
When darkness finally comes to Damascus’s streets on Halloween night, there is no one left outside. Nobody dares go out after dark, and what lights remain on are turned low with curtains pulled tight.
At the stroke of midnight, the bell from the town’s clocktower rings out 12 times, and as the last chime reverberates in the night air, the town’s residents hold their collective breath, listening to see if this year might be different. One second…five seconds…ten seconds pass before the shriek of the Ghost Train whistle at the summit of White Top Mountain pierces the silence.
To the huddled children, the noise sounds like a hundred witches crying in unison. The whistle is followed by a thunderous motion that trembles the earth as the Ghost Train starts its journey down the Creeper Trail at breakneck speed. According to old-timers who have seen it pass, the train has only one passenger car, rumored to hold an unpleasant cargo.
The train barrels through narrow passages and across dozens of bridges spanning the Whitetop Laurel River’s rocks and rapids. Tree branches sway widely, creeper vines and leaves scatter before it as the gray apparition moves along the path, indifferent to the fact that there are no longer rails.
Deer and small animals sensing its approach try to escape in every direction, and unfortunate tourists caught on the trail after dark tell tails of a misty gray engine with CREEPER emblazoned across its boiler. As far as anyone knows, Damascus’s old abandoned train station is the Creeper engines only stop.
The thundering gets louder and louder as the train approaches the town, and families huddled together to make sure they have accounted for all of their children.
Timmy Felder is the one exception. Timmy, a ten-year-old boy who happens to live across from the old Damascas train station on Railroad Ave, is locked inside his second-story bedroom and is lying beneath a window on the bedroom floor. Timmy is determined to find out why the ghostly engine stops each year at the abandoned Damascas station. The hardwood of Timmy’s floor is starting to vibrate from the approaching engine. Sound is tricky in the mountains, and Timmy can’t be sure when it will arrive.
A sudden gust of wind buffeted Timmy’s house, and the thunderous noise has stopped, and a long hiss that sounds like escaping steam comes from outside his window. Timmy cautiously raising his eyes even with the window sill can hardly believe what he is witnessing.
As the door slides open on the passenger car, a slimy green blob slithered down the steps and onto the rotted platform and quickly disappearing beneath the station. Next, a skeleton with a limp strolled out of the car and headed toward the town’s graveyard. The next creepy passenger, a misty ghost, floated across the street and through the walls of Mrs. Martins Bed & Breakfast. A purple and brown four-legged spotted creature came next, and it headed for the bridge spanning the river.
One after one, the creeps from the Creeper Railroad disembarked and took up residence somewhere within the town, and then as suddenly as the engine had appeared, it dissolved into the night air, and the people of Damascus had once again survived Halloween near the Creeper Trail.
Chapter 16 synopsis: “Joel and Sam, when learning of Mary’s foster home located in the town of Still Creek near the Canadian border, decide to make a trip up to have a look. Joel, while inside the abandoned house, feels an external claustrophobic pressure and anxiety and tries to hide the feeling. Sam, noticing his discomfort, suspects there is an unexplainable undercurrent in the investigation into Mary’s disappearance and pleads for Joel to be careful.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads from his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapter 16 of the book, which are pages 87 through 97. The Author will release a video weekly and hopes that you’ll join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Chapter 15 synopsis: “Lucy Patterson receives some unsolicited information during a Christmas celebration party at the Seven Lakes Grand. An older woman attending the party observing Lucy’s husband’s interest in a young woman staying at the hotel, sees it as her duty to inform Lucy. Having grown up in extreme poverty on the Plains of Minnesota, Lucy is not about to give up her position of wealth and status. The morning after the party, she looks for a way to interfere with the suspected dalliance.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapter 15 of the book, which are pages 81 through 86. The Author will release a video on a weekly basis and hopes that you will join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Chapter 14 synopsis: “Patterson, sitting in his office the day after the Christmas party, is preoccupied with the young woman. He had a sense that she might be in trouble or desperate in some way. He saw desperation as an opportunity, and if right, would find a way to turn her situation to his advantage.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapter 14 of the book, which are pages 78 through 80. The Author will release a video on a weekly basis and hopes that you will join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Chapter 13 synopsis: “Joel, who knows nothing of Mary Benton’s previous life before she arrived by train, in Seven Lakes, travels to Fairview, a town 50 miles to the west. There he meets an enthusiastic young museum archivist who, through their joint research, becomes an advocate for Mary and finding the truth about her disappearance.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapter 13 of the book, which are pages 68 through 77. The Author will release a video on a weekly basis and hopes that you will join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Chapter 11 synopsis: “Joel meets with the Seven Lakes reporter who wrote a story about local boys seeing strange lights out on the frozen lake. During his interview with the reporter, Joel discovers two clues that give him new insight into the disappearance of Mary Bento.”
Chapter 12 synopsis: “The Seven Lakes Grand in December of 1925 is the scene of a lavish Christmas party where both guests of the hotel and locals attend. Patterson, arriving in a foul mood, discovers a woman sitting alone near the Grand fireplace. Other guests during the evening notice Patterson’s careless preoccupation with the young woman while being accompanied by his wife.” – From Frozen Harvest Book written by Joseph Benedict.
In this video series, The Author, Joseph Benedict, reads his book Frozen Harvest, The Detective Cold Case Novel, and invites you to read along with him, or hang back and enjoy. In this Video Joseph reads Chapters 11 and 12 of the book, which are pages 60 through 67. The Author will release a video on a weekly basis and hopes that you will join him as we follow Detective “Joel Vick” on his journey of solving the mysterious Cold Case of Mary Benton.
Overview of “Frozen Harvest”: Mary Benton, traveling alone by train, arrived in the small town of Seven Lakes, Minnesota, on December 5, 1925. In the early evening of December 22, Mary left her room at The Seven Lakes Grand Hotel, venturing out into the middle of a severe snowstorm, never to return. Authorities at the time ruled her disappearance, an accidental death due to exposure even though they never recovered her body. A mysterious letter arriving at the office of Minneapolis detective Joel Vick, nearly ninety years after her disappearance, suggested there may have been something else at play on that fateful night.
Genre: FICTION, Mystery and Detective. Current edition: 200 pages Paperback.
Book Detailed Description: Joel Vick, a Minneapolis detective, down on his luck, receives an opportunity in the form of a mysterious letter delivered to his office. The letter alludes to a 90-year-old missing person case that took place in the small northern Minnesota town of Seven Lakes. Joel, as a child, had spent numerous summers in Seven Lakes vacationing with his family. With a downturn in requests for his services locally, and his natural curiosity aroused, Vick drives up to have a look at the town he hadn’t visited in over 40 years. Initially frustrated that he had wasted his time after visiting the person who wrote the letter, Vick discovers something unusual that changes his mind about leaving. Vick, digging further into the case, determines that the investigation performed at the time of her disappearance to be entirely inadequate. Using his investigative skills, Vick stitches together a story of a beautiful young woman who is looking for a new start, but unable to escape her past. The story set against the backdrop of severe winter snowstorms, extreme cold, and a robust ice harvesting industry that flourished in the decades before refrigeration rendered it obsolete.
About the Author: Joseph Benedict, born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, spent eight years in the US. Air Force before joining the corporate world. For the past nine years, Benedict has been a writer who tells his company narratives through articles, features, and press releases. Benedict loves the creative process of telling a good story and maintains a blog where he publishes his works of fiction and daily human struggles. Benedict currently makes his home in Camden, SC.
Joseph Benedict Blog 