Welcome! I’m Duke Southard, an author, retired educator, and lecturer.
I have published seven novels, a commissioned history, and an anthology of
award-winning short stories and essays.
Please check out my blog where I write about true crime and a wide ranging variety of literary and everyday subjects.
My Programs
My programs are offered free of charge to any schools, public libraries, and educational/community groups.
Free Book
Grab a free copy of my book, The Week from Heaven and Hell
My Books
View a list of my published books, including Tainted Justice.
Recent Posts
Alibis Revisited
In reading through what I've written on Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns, I came across the chapter on alibis. Here is the opening paragraph. Chapter Thirteen (page 114) "An earlier chapter of this book addressed the issue of “degrees of...
Definition of Active
In June of 2013, I published a blog post here with my definition of the word, ACTIVE, as it applies to a murder investigation. In retrospect, it seems a bit harsh for the time. The reality is that seven years years had passed when in April of this year, a NHSP...
Stacey Burns-Progress?
In my last post, I mentioned I would use this post to update readers on Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns. This will be a short post! On April 6 of this year, I spoke with the detective who is currently working on the murder case of Stacey Burns...
The Ice Dam-Conclusion
Here is how our first ice dam story concluded. The experience was a harbinger of future ice dams in a new house we occupied for almost forty years in New Hampshire. With temperatures stuck in the low twenties and a light mist of freezing rain falling, we managed to...
The Ice Dam
A work in progress for me is a series of short stories/vignettes about our move from New Jersey to New Hampshire in 1970. My new teaching job started in January in one of the snowiest, coldest winters and it surely was the snowiest, coldest we had ever experienced,...
Two Killers
This will be a brief post, followed by another tomorrow regarding those pesky ice dams referred to in the last post. My question- is it safe to assume that the murderers of Stacey Burns and Bobbie Miller had gotten away with murder? I ask that quite innocently because...
A New Start
I am no longer writing for the Pro Writers Writing (PPW) blog so am going to try to resurrect this blog with some regularity. I know some of the followers are shaking their heads and saying that this is a story they have heard before, but I promise to do my best. The...
A new suspect?
Within the last week or so, I've heard that there is a completely new "person of interest" in the Stacey Burns murder case. Has anyone else living in the area heard that? And another brief question-Does anyone (besides me) wonder why the detective now assigned to the...
Any Followers Out There?
My last post (after an extended absence) received two comments, despite having the Stacey Burns murder mentioned on the title. Both responses are writing colleagues of mine. I'm curious as to why this is the case. I am trying to resurrect interest in this blog and...
Where I’ve Been (Stacey Burns murder)
Some folks have wondered if, when I stopped writing on this blog about the murder of Stacey Burns, I had lost interest. Those who know me are aware that this is not the case. In fact, as recently as April, I had a conversation with the detective currently working on...
Making Teresa Disappear
One subplot of my new book features the philosophical argument raised by Thorton Wilder in his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Do we live by accident and die by accident, or do we live by plan and die by plan? The blurb on the jacket...
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to All! May the year 2020 bring you health, happiness, and prosperity! One of my resolutions is to be better about keeping this blog more timely. As some know, I write a weekly post on the Pro Writers Writing blog as well You can read it st...