Hotel del Coronado Ghost. One of San Diego's most remarkable true stories is solved at last. It's not just a famous ghost story about the haunting of the U.S. National Landmark Hotel del Coronado. It's an intriguing true crime mystery from the gaslamp era of 1892 San Diego. I worked at the Hotel del Coronado, and became familiar with the Heritage Department's official book about the famous ghost (Beautiful Stranger). I devoted two years intensively studying the baffling mystery. How and why did this stunning young woman die violently and mysteriously in 1892, amid rumors of forbidden romance and corruption in the highest places? Truth is stranger than fiction—the astounding facts have been hidden in plain sight for over a century. Finally, the entire saga is revealed in my two books (see inside). One is a scholarly analysis, the other a noir period thriller based on true fact.
Two Books. The first of my books is Dead Move: Kate Morgan and the Haunting Mystery of Coronado, a scholarly non-fiction analysis with over 120 footnotes. Warning: it's a slog, going over a lot of material with a fine-toothed comb. If you want a fast-paced, noir period thriller, you should begin by reading Lethal Journey, which is based on the true story as revealed in Dead Move, with some irresistible elements of the traditional legend added. The primary difference is that, while Tom Morgan, Kate Morgan's husband in 1892, does not figure in the nonfictional analysis in Dead Move, he does play a significant fictional role in Lethal Journey based on the legend. In Dead Move, there is a dramatization dating to my early involvement with the story, in which I still have Tom Morgan as a gambler, based on the legend. I repudiated that legend early on, when my analysis showed there is no place for him in the true crime story. It is very likely part of the coverup created by the Spreckels Machine, as explained in Dead Move.
New Dedicated Web Pages. Go here for the special web pages (on this site) dedicated to the Kate Morgan true crime/ghost story at the Hotel del Coronado. Both of my books are more fully explained there, and there is a special page of Buy links for Amazon, B&N, and other on-line retailers. The print editions are available print on demand (POD) through Amazon.com CreateSpace only.
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