A mystery for 60 years!
The Handy Candy Man is a non-fiction, historical, biographical, crime novel about the life of a pedophile who was known to have molested young girls for decades before he murdered seven-year-old Alice Louise Lee. Many knew but none spoke up.
Alice Lee went missing before noon, without a trace, from Swan’s Bean Yard in Trent, Oregon on August 29th. 1960. It was a shock to the small rural community and it spread throughout the countryside and then the country. How could she disappear amidst a close knit community of friends and neighbors in broad daylight? The mystery struck fear into the hearts of the residents of Lane County and quickly changed the carefree, friendly culture into one of caution and suspicion. For three weeks they were left wondering what happened to Alice Lee. And for sixty years now they’ve been asking, “Who killed her?”
This fascinating narrative started as a simple quest to identify the killer and grew into a biography which reveals where he came from, and tries to gives some insight into who he was. It clearly shows that individuals have a free will. Even the best of parents can raise a child who goes his own way and does not conform to family values or societal norms.
The quest for finding a killer after the case grows cold becomes exponentially more difficult. Especially when the physical evidence was nor properly stored and there’s no reliable DNA evidence to examine. The murderer is long dead. How can the truth be found and brought to light? In this cold case, the resolution of the crime hinged on personal confessions, and on the truth buried in documents not available to the public until the Freedom of Information Act opened the door.
The Handy Candy Man is solidly based on information found in newspaper articles and archived documents (family letters, Walla Walla Penitentiary records, Lane County Oregon police reports and court proceedings, Oregon State Hospital records, reports, medical tests and evaluations), genealogical research, historical research, eyewitness testimonies and, yes, confessions.
The Handy Candy Man is a story about the lives of real people in authentic locations. The names of the main characters are accurate. However, situations, thoughts, conversations and some fictional characters have been added to enrich and advance the story line. It stays as close to reality as possible, using fiction to fill in gaps consistent with the known facts.
The truth shared in this book is more than just telling the world what happened to Alice Louise Lee and the Handy Candy Man. There are life lessons to be learned. It shares an astounding example of the danger of keeping secrets. Caretakers are encouraged to make sure children are properly supervised at all times; even in public places considered safe. And it reveals the dastardly practices of sociopathic pedophiles.
It is also a spiritual book. Alice Lee loved Jesus. Her parents were devoted Christians and the parents of the killer were too. This book is filled with references to God and church because many of the real people in the story were Christians or at least attended church. It’s about a time when the United States of America was clearly identified as a Christian nation and not ashamed to say so. A time before unpatriotic leftists corrupted our public school system by banning God, the Ten Commandments and prayer.
The book discusses the age old question of who is to blame when bad things happen to people. If you aren’t a Bible scholar or a theologian who has already given that issue deep thought, it may broaden your perspective for the good and perhaps help you process anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, or grief. It shares the truth about some of the most important issues in life.
We, the authors, believe you will enjoy the adventure of solving this very cold case
The Handy Candy Man in paperback and Kindle e-book will be available on www.Amazon.com. in early April of 2020. Or you may wish to order it through BarnesandNoble.com, Walmart.com, or your local bookstore.
It’s been a long time coming. Do yourself a favor and get this book!
And, after you read it, please write a review for me on www.Amazon.com. Thank you so much!
And thank you for visiting my blog. Even though I haven’t written for a long time, most of the content of my blogs is timeless. I’ve spent the past year writing this book which I would never have thought I would write. The subject is out of my normal genre but it was dropped in my lap so I took up the challenge and loved it.
Grace and peace to you!
