The Man Who Wanted Seven Wives

In January 1897, a young woman named Zona Heaster Shue was discovered dead in her home in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, apparently of natural causes. Some weeks after the burial, Zona's ghost appeared at her mother's bedside, revealing to her that she had in fact been murdered. The case was reopened, Zona's body was exhumed, and ultimately her husband, Trout Shue, was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Nowadays a highway historical marker in Greenbrier County calls attention to the story of the "Greenbrier Ghost": the "only known case in which testimony from a ghost helped convict a murderer."

Novelist and historian Katie Letcher Lyle set out to discover what actually happened in this often-chronicled murder case. Her interviews with area residents -- including Trout's descendants -- and meticulous historical research have produced not only a fascinating tale of a controversial court case and a brutal murder, but also the story of the events' impact upon the residents of a then-remote and close-knit community.