The Mystery of Mary Surratt: The Plot to Kill President Lincoln Paperback – Illustrated, September 1, 2004

The book was rather short and simple. Would work fine for elementary or middle school kids, but I had hoped for something meatier.

Excellent history and photography. You learn how some claim she was innocent, and others testify that she was guilty. Interestingly, two of the men involved wrote memoirs that are still available. Sam Arnold says she was innocent, where Louis Weichmann says she was guilty. It would be very interesting to read their memoirs on the subject of Mary Surratt.

Many people know that John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre on April 14, 1865. However, fewer people know about the events leading up to that fateful evening or the people involved with Booth. Rebecca Jones has done an excellent job of telling the story of one of the people involved with Booth, Mary Surratt. The Mystery of Mary Surratt is a good way for young people to learn some of the facts and develop their own ideas as to the guilt or innocence of Mrs. Surratt, the first women to be executed by the federal government.

Great facts about the Surratts in a very short book.

I guess I didn' read the description well enough for this book. Didn't know it was for kids. Not really what I wanted, but for young kids in grammar school, it's a good introduction to Lincoln's assasination.