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The Dictograph Case
Paperback
Mystery & ThrillerHistorical Fiction
Publisher: Diane Wahn Shotton
Published: Sep 23 2025
Pages: 292
Weight: 0.75
Height: 0.66 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
Recommended. - Karen Bordonaro, Historical Novel Society (HNR Issue 116, May 2026)
A very meaningful and compelling read... it has that Raymond Chandler, detective noir feel. - Rhonda Douglas, Author
THE DICTOGRAPH CASE: A 1937 Historical Mystery of Secrets, Surveillance, and Small-Town Noir
A town built on secrets. A machine that hears everything.
In the darkness of a concrete tunnel, a German immigrant is beaten senseless. Everyone knows whose fists delivered the blows. But who ordered the attack? In this town, patriotism is a weapon, and justice doesn't need witnesses.
Journalist Michael Schumann is haunted by the ruin of his grandfather's life in 1918. Schoolteacher Olivia Kendall is driven by the suspicious accident that claimed her father's life. Together, they begin to pull at a single thread of local corruption, only to uncover a web of surveillance far more sophisticated-and dangerous-than they ever imagined.
At the heart of the conspiracy lies the Dictograph: a tool of eavesdropping and coercion used by the town's elite to weaponize loyalty and crush dissent. From the rhythmic tick of a grandfather clock in 1918 to the silent threats of Ellington's present, the machinery of silence has been running for decades.
As Michael and Olivia dig deeper, they realize the truth doesn't matter to those in power-only the justice they can manufacture. Every witness who speaks pays a price. Every answer leads to a new threat. Now, they must decide: will they stay silent to survive, or risk everything to redeem a town's blood-stained conscience?
The Dictograph Case is a morally complex historical mystery for readers who crave the atmospheric tension of Jacqueline Winspear and the intricate character-driven suspense of Louise Penny.
Includes a 15-question Book Club Discussion Guide.
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