A Time of the Bad Wind: A Tall House series novel (The Tall House) (Volume 1)

My dear Meyer,” chided the old historian, “why should anyone be surprised by shootings at the Tall House? Have you looked into its past?” The young anthropology intern was more than willing to look. On the surface, the Tall House was an exotic property that attracted a certain type of social justice worker. Sherilyn Riddle had purchased the property as a base for her diverse friends—most of whom had been evicted from earlier African American communities in Wabiska. Like many cities in southeastern Wisconsin, the fictional Wabiska had experienced a series of forced ethnic migrations in its history, brought on by European settlement, later development, and freeway building. The razing of the African American neighborhoods led directly to a substantial homeless community in Wabiska and the attendant structures to service them. Fueled by the recent shootings, Meyer Hoffmann’s voracious curiosity led him on a course of inquiry about the Tall House, those who’d lived there, and the neighborhood itself. As zealous Meyer uncovered information about the Tall House’s history, he blundered to false conclusions as often as he stumbled onto correct ones. The only thing Meyer knew for certain was that everything about these shootings connected to the forced ethnic migrations of the past and something curiously called “the bad wind.” Yet no one—not the guests, not the neighbors—acted very concerned about these shootings. After all, weren’t they designed to be victimless? Perhaps, initially. But that changed.