The Notorious Outlaw Lige Church: A true crime novel detailing the forgotten life of infamous robber and murderer Elijah Church in 1880’s Wilkes County, North Carolina.

Winner of the North Carolina Society of Historians’ 2023 Award of Excellence for a Historical Book. The forgotten, true story of notorious outlaw Elijah “Lige” Church, who escaped the chain gang twice to carry out a murder and other crimes in western North Carolina. This is an account of efforts to bring him and his compatriots to justice.In 1881, a brutal axe murder and two robberies brought intense media attention to Wilkes County, North Carolina and the surrounding mountain communities. These crimes left no clues, in a time before the development of modern day forensic science, yet those thought responsible were eventually found and variously lynched, murdered, and sentenced to hard labor for their crimes.The author has meticulously searched out the details surrounding these crimes and the men who committed them, crafting a narrative that manages to bring the desperados and lawmen involved to life. It’s a thrilling story that adheres closely to the surviving news reporting and court transcripts from that long ago era. Read more