Sooner than Gold

It's the summer of 1898. The nation, just coming out of an economic slump, has been at war with Spain since April. And Sylvester Tilghman, sheriff of Arahpot, Jordan County, Pennsylvania, has a murder victim with too many enemies.
There's Claude Kessler, who is found standing with a knife in his hand over the body of Willis Petry.
There's Rachel Webber, Kessler's surly teen-aged stepdaughter, who admits an act intended to cause him harm.
Then there's the band of gypsies who claim Kessler is the goryo who stole one of their young women.
If this isn't enough to complicate Tilghman's life, add in threats to his job by McClean Ruppenthal, former town burgess; a run-in with a female horse thief; scary predictions by a gypsy fortuneteller, and the theft of Doc Mariner's new motorcar.
There's plenty of good eating, church-going and socializing along the way. And, before all is over, Sylvester solves the crime and even comes a little closer to his goal of finally marrying longtime girlfriend Lydia Longlow.