History as true crime, Murder in a Mill Town tells a story of sex, religion, and violence, delving into the nation's first "trial of the century." Illuminating how the young American nation confronted sexual violence, abortion, suicides, mobs, "fake news," conspiracy politics, an...

History as true crime, Murder in a Mill Town tells a story of sex, religion, and violence, delving into the nation's first "trial of the century." Illuminating how the young American nation confronted sexual violence, abortion, suicides, mobs, "fake news," conspiracy politics, and sensational popular culture, its plots and twists echo from the past into the present.