When Johnny Came Marching Home

A very well written book. I thought it was brilliant how the author drew us into the mid-1800s and kept us there throughout. It was the little things, like understanding the lifestyle of the Civil War era. An example, is when he described what they did with Limbs that had been amputated. Hundred per......more

4.5 stars… what a terrific story. It is one of the best historical fiction books I have read that takes place during the Civil War. I am not sure why more people have not read it. Though it had been on my TBR list for years. I am so glad I finally got to it. Check it out!......more

Set during and after the Civil War, Heffernan's novel follows three boys from rural Vermont. They share a close knit friendship which is shattered by the war: one dies, one loses an arm, and one comes home with deep and untreatable psychological scars. When the crippled boy becomes town deputy, thou......more

A quick read, but barely a mystery. That isn't to say it wasn't interesting, the aspects of how the War changed the characters was interesting, but I don't know if I'd normally consider it a mystery. It was on the most basic level, there was a murder and the book unravels who murdered that person, b......more

I had never heard of the author, but as a sucker for Civil War-set mysteries (like the Abel Jones series, or Sweetsmoke, to name the first that pop into my head), I picked this up. Cutting back and forth between three time periods, it tells the story of four Vermont playmates as they grow up to beco......more