For as long as I can remember, I've heard the story of my cousins, the "Dying Sparlings".  Many relatives had differing theories as to what happened and why.
 
But no one really knows.  In fact there are only a few things that are truly known.
 
The Sparlings were dying.  There was a trial, a conviction, and a pardon.
 
The story ignited suspicions in the Thumb of Michigan and made news as far away as Washington D.C.  But the question remains unanswered today.
 
Why were the Sparlings dying?

The Thumb Pointed Fingers

a novel based on actual events that occurred in rural Michigan in the early 1900s.

cover by Gretchen Newman