On a cold November night in 1910, Will Anderson is summoned to a meeting with John Cooper, a man who was once his close friend, but is now his romantic rival. Cooper has told Will that he needs to meet him at Detroit Electric, the automotive company owned by Will's father. Cooper says that Elizabeth Hume is in great danger. Elizabeth was Will's fiancee and now is engaged to Cooper. When Will goes to the automotive works late at night to meet with John Cooper, he finds the man brutally crushed beneath the steel stamping machinery. When Will hears footsteps and voices he runs. Fleeing the scene of the murder for which he has such a strong motive puts Will in a pretty tough spot. Things go from bad to worse as more bodies show up and more evidence piles up against Will.
Detroit Electric Scheme is a fun, suspenseful mystery, but it is also a well-researched historical novel that sets the reader firmly in early 20th Century Detroit. Two of the main characters are struggling with addiction problems. This is also a story of redemption and overcoming oneself in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.