The West Plains Dance Hall Explosion

By Lin Waterhouse

The 1928 explosion that transformed a West Plains dance hall into a raging inferno sparked feverish national media attention and decades of bitterness in the Missouri town it tore apart. And while the story inspired a popular country song, the firestorm that claimed thirty-nine lives remains an unsolved mystery. In this first book on the notorious catastrophe, Lin Waterhouse presents a clear account of the event and its aftermath that judiciously weighs conflicting testimony and deeply respects the personal anguish experienced by parents forced to identify their children by their clothing and personal trinkets.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Dec 3, 2010
• ISBN: 9781614230816

Lin Waterhouse

Lin Waterhouse is a freelance journalist and fiction author who seeks out the historical curiosities of the Missouri Ozarks region and explores the unique culture of the beautiful hills and “hollers” of the area. In addition to her books, she writes for local and regional magazines and newspapers.   Waterhouse’s nonfiction thriller The West Plains Dance Hall Explosion  details the cold-case mystery of the 1928 explosion that transformed a small-town dance hall into a raging inferno and sparked international media attention. In her fictional mystery, Bred to the Bone, retired educator Caroline Hudson discovers a cache of aged documents in a long-abandoned safe in the attic of Hunter's Mill. The find exposes family secrets of prejudice and pride that lead to murder.