Murder on Main Street

At the beginning of the twentieth century nearly fifty all-black towns were founded in Indian Territory, soon to be Oklahoma. Many of those towns flourished helped by an influx from the Deep South. By the end of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl Days most of the towns had become vague memories or short entries in history books. A few towns survived and continue to exist today. Many are poor. All are small. Redbird is one of those towns. Less than twenty-five miles from Muskogee, Oklahoma, Redbird lies in the bottom lands of the Arkansas River Valley. It is an agricultural area. Decades ago the primary crop was cotton. Those once white fields have been replaced by soybean and sod farms. In the late 1950's racial tensions were elevated when the high school in Redbird was closed and the students were forcefully intergrated into the Porter, Oklahoma, school system. No one, black or white, was happy. Fast forward twenty years and our story begins. On three days three explosions destroyed three homes. Eight people were killed including four children. Is it possible that three propane tanks in one small town would experience major failures causing three explosions? Or were the explosions caused by human hand? If so, were the murders caused by racial hatred? Was there an old score that needed to be settled? Was there a family secret that was so dark and deep that the only way to prevent it coming to light was the deaths of eight people? In this second book of the Task Force Oklahoma series, a group of diverse law enforcement officials come together to find an answer - if that is possible. Bradford Coates again brings you a story that is difficult to stomach in places, but will keep you turning the pages.