Charles Fergus writes mysteries set in Pennsylvania in the Jacksonian Era of the 1830s. He also writes books about nature and wildlife. His knowledge of the natural world informs his fiction, letting him invoke a strong sense of place. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks wrote about Charles’s first mystery: “Deeply imagined and intricately plotted, A Stranger Here Below marries richly textured historical fiction with the urgency of a mystery novel. Fergus knows certain things, deep in the bone: horses, hunting, the folkways of rural places, and he weaves this wisdom into a stirring tale.”

Charles is the author of more than twenty books. His three Gideon Stoltz Historical Mysteries are A Stranger Here Below (2019), Nighthawk’s Wing (2021), and Lay This Body Down (2023). He has written for publications as various as Audubon, the New York Times, Highlights for Children, Country Journal, Gray’s Sporting Journal, and Pennsylvania Game News.

Charles was born and raised in central Pennsylvania. A graduate of Penn State University’s writing program, he now lives on an old farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, where he and his wife, the author Nancy Marie Brown, ride their Icelandic horses on dirt roads and trails. He loves to spend time in nature, hiking, snowshoeing, and watching wildlife. He is one third of an American roots trio called Yestermorn, singing Appalachian, folk, and shape-note songs, including many from the early 1800s.

This event is free, ADA accessible and open to the public. Listening devices available. Contact Bob Joly in advance to reserve a device: bjoly@stjathenaeum.org or 802-748-1389.