Bootlegger: A Story of Small-Town America

So begins this captivating and rich tale of a struggling British-immigrant mining town and a controversial criminal who arose there early in the century.

This is the story of Kelly Wagle, a small-time bootlegger whose mysterious career had a profound and lasting impact on his community. Central to the book are two fascinating, unsolved murder cases that deeply troubled the close-knit coal town.

John E. Hallwas skillfully combines biography, community history, and true crime narrative in a compelling story that takes the reader into a hardworking, ghost-haunted town where struggling residents cope with the threat of death, the fading of hope, and the decline of community.