“Alaska is rife with twisted tales of murder. Credit author James T. Bartlett for unearthing one that’s new to me. And what a tale it is! Take one beautiful, charming woman named Diane Walker. Mix her with wealthy entrepreneur Cecil Wells, twenty years her senior. Marry them in the blink of an eye. Toss them into the rough and tumble atmosphere of territorial Fairbanks, Alaska. Then wait for trouble. This is a page-turner with all the complications and plot-twists that only true-crime can provide. Bartlett delivers it in abundance. Did Diane kill her husband? Was it her reputed lover? Or maybe — just maybe — a mysterious third man? This is the quintessential Alaska crime story. The Alaskan Blonde has it all!” - Leland E. Hale, co-author of the best-selling Butcher, Baker: The True Account of an Alaskan Serial Killer
"And while Bartlett's writing style is more reportorial than literary — he is a reporter after all — he tells that story well" - Anchorage Daily News
“An interesting prowl through pills and pistols; drummers and dead men…” - Glynn Martin, co-author with James Ellroy of the best-selling L.A.P.D.’53“.. gripping tale of a classic murder case… it's a book that's well worth your time if you're a true crime aficionado.” - Charles Salzberg, author of Devil in the Hole
“Unfolds with all the nail-biting suspense and secretive plot of a thriller…” - Looks at Books
“Such a sad, strange, riveting story…” - Leslie Karst, author of the Sally Solari Mysteries
“An incredible expose… an intriguing read…” - Discover Hollywood
"...tapped into the "human element" and the damage a murder leaves on all involved much better than most true-crime books I've read" - Robin Barefield, Alaska author/podcaster - Murder and Mystery in The Last Frontier
Guest post for “Murder Is Everywhere”
International mystery blog Murder Is Everywhere asked me to write a guest post about researching true crime….
Interview with the Public Safety Writers Association
The PSWA is an association of writers existing to support people involved in creating content about public safety.
LAPL - “interview with an author”
I talk to the LA Public Library blog about writing the book….
Top 5 Tips to research your crime novel - a blog post for Careerauthors.com
I wasn’t a victim’s family member or friend, nor a local journalist who had doggedly pursued the story. I was very much an outsider. An “Outsider” is what Alaskans call people from the Lower 48 states, but I wasn’t even that: I was born in England, nearly twenty years after the crime.
“Outsider Journalism” on Crime Reads
My article for Crime Reads about being an “Outsider Journalist” investigating a murder that happened in Alaska decades before I was born - in England
"A Day In My Life" on Dru's Book Musings
“A Day In My Life” is where authors write about 500 words in the style of their book’s main character. Of course, Diane Wells was a real person, but I imagined what she might have written the night she was arrested in Seattle and charged with murder…
“The Alaskan Blonde” on Morbidology.com
An article about the murder of Cecil Wells that I wrote for the true crime website Morbidology.com - it’s a 5 minute read and a good introduction to “The Alaskan Blonde”, my book about the 1953 murder of Cecil Wells in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Looks At Books review
“…unfolds with all the nail-biting suspense and secretive plot of a thriller” says Looks At Books - read more of the review by clicking on the link…
