6
SEPTEMBER 15�22, 2021
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
Former senator pens first novel
David Nelson based
‘Mariah Is Missing’ on
a true Montana crime
By Lisa Britton
Go! Magazine
P
ENDLETON — The story may
be fi ctional, but the idea that
sparked David Henry Nelson to
write it came from true events.
He published “Mariah Is Miss-
ing” this month. It is available
through Amazon.
“This is a fi ctionalized recre-
ation of what happened,” he said.
Nelson lives in Pendleton.
He served as an Oregon state
senator from 1997 to 2013, has
dryland farmed for 45 years, and
worked as a lawyer in Montana
from 1967 to 1981.
His time in Montana inspired
“Mariah Is Missing.” In 1974, a
schoolteacher went missing and
was later found deceased. A man
named Duncan McKenzie was
arrested, found guilty of her mur-
der, and sentenced to death in
1975. He was executed in 1995
— the fi rst person executed in
Montana since 1943.
Over the years, that case has
stayed with Nelson, who just
turned 80. “Mariah Is Missing” is
his fi rst book.
“It’s been eating at me all
these years,” he said. “I didn’t
grasp the signifi cance of how
many people it aff ected.”
The novel follows Ana Mc-
Guire, a prosecuting attorney
attempting to solve the disap-
pearance of a young school-
teacher who is reported missing
from her Monday morning class.
Along the way, she navigates
“a male-dominated profes-
sional world of law and local
politics and tangles with a zeal-
ous sheriff and an egocentric
county commissioner.”
The book is described as a
“suspenseful novel that off ers a
David Nelson/Contributed photo
Nelson and his dog, Boo.
dramatic re-creation of the past
and a fascinating insider view
of what it’s like to investigate
a murder.”
Although the story is based
on true events, Nelson created
fi ctional characters and towns.
There might be a sequel in
the works.
“The way I left the ending, I
left a lot of questions,” he said.
He will participate in the First
Draft Writers Series at Pendle-
ton Center for the Arts at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 16. For informa-
tion, visit www.pendletonarts.
org.
To learn more about Nelson’s
book, visit www.mariahismissing.
com.
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A NOVEL
David Henry Nelson
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