Abingdon's Boardinghouse Murder - (True Crime) by Greg Lilly (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

An Agatha Nominee for Best Non-Fiction

On a bitter November night in 1945, a widow shot her young boarder, a WWII veteran, and left him to die on the floor of his room.

Helen Clark tossed the gun under the neighbor's porch and then took a taxi to join her teen daughters at a movie in Bristol. When the body was found, after several conflicting statements, she settled on the claim that he shot himself-four times, twice in the back. The Commonwealth of Virginia called it murder in a jealous rage. The trial enthralled the nation.

Local author Greg Lilly uses newspaper coverage of the murder, the investigation and the trial to reveal the facts of the Abingdon boardinghouse murder.

Review Quotes

The Tragic Tale of the Widow & the Coach

About the Author

Greg Lilly grew up in Bristol, Virginia, and then lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. The rich storytelling tradition of the South captivated him, and he began writing. He first turned to creating short stories after plot lines emerged from the technical manuals he wrote for a large family-owned corporation. Moving to Sedona, Arizona, Greg chronicled the high desert characters--past and present--in his novels. He is a former Arts & Culture commissioner for the City of Sedona. Greg relocated to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he wrote and edited a monthly regional magazine and chaired the Williamsburg Area Arts Commission. Today, he lives and writes in Abingdon, Virginia. He is the chair of the Abingdon Arts Commission.