ome people said Susan Mummey deserved to be murdered.

She was shot through the heart by a man who had fired his gun through the window of her house on the night of March 17, 1934, in rural Schuylkill County.

The previously untold story is now the subject of “In the Day of Trouble,” a first novel written by Taj Magruder of Philadelphia about a misunderstood woman, a disturbed man and as Magruder adds, “Perhaps it’s even about ourselves.”

Better known as the Witch of Ringtown Valley, Mummey was said by local folks of the time to have practiced magic from her isolated farmhouse.

“I’ve carried a fascination about witches with me for quite some time,” said Magruder. “Two years ago, while I was in a CVS store, I saw a book by Thomas White called, ‘Witches of Pennsylvania.’ There I read about Mummey’s murder. I wanted to know more about her and her murderer so I did extensive research to build a plot brought to life by creating scenes and expanding upon dialogue I found from old newspaper coverage of the murder trial.”

Magruder, an award-winning writer at Radnor High School in Philadelphia and a Penn State graduate with a degree in political science, discovered in his research that Pow-wow, a Pennsylvania Dutch practice of folk magic, may have led to the belief that Mummey had supernatural powers.

“Susan fought with her family, her neighbors and even the law. The deaths of several people she had disliked were recorded as from natural causes, but there was much suspicion that she was spinning her charms to get revenge upon people she didn’t like and killing them,” said Magruder. “Some folks said the 60-year-old widow was angry after her husband was killed in a gun powder factory explosion in 1910.

“Her murderer believed he was afflicted by her spells that caused him to have hallucinations. He was arrested, put on trial, and he was determined to be insane so he did not receive the death penalty.”

The story of Mummey’s murder drew national attention for a short time, but then seemed to disappear like it was blown away in the wind.

The author says, “It’s the most famous murder you’ve never heard of.”

Magruder, unlike many authors who like to sequester themselves in isolation when they perform their craft, wrote his novel during many visits to coffee shops near where he lives.

“It’s generally quiet in these little places and for some reason, I can get sparks of creative inspiration to plot my story.”

He began his historical fiction book with a skeletal outline, but found that his characters’ voices and behaviors were guiding him into unexpected themes.

Although he’s not a local resident, his research determined that the murder of Susan Mummey was investigated in Tamaqua, where the accused actually signed his confession to the crime before police authority.

Like most wordsmiths, he writes not for fame and fortune, but to tell a tale that will entertain his readers with mystery and mayhem.

During the day, Magruder is a press secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Education where he also gets to hone his writing skills.

Earlier in his life, he wrote an 80-page story to whet his appetite for the craft. He was also an avid reader and a huge fan of the Harry Potter series and the Salem Witch Trials that brought frenzy to a small New England town in the late 1600s with 200 people accused of making alliances with the devil. Thirty were found guilty, and 18 died by hanging.

No writer ends his toil with having written but one novel and Magruder is no exception.

Before he could hold a hard copy of “In the Day of Trouble,” he already started conducting research for another true crime that he can turn into creative nonfiction.

“English was my favorite subject in school, but I was told at Penn State that there’s no money to be made with that degree,” he said with a laugh. “I have found there are ways to make decent money and also preserve my love for the written word.”

For Taj Magruder, his ventures into the art of storytelling might just pay more dividends in fulfilling his life than financial investments he might make.

“In the Day of Trouble” is a classic page turner and is currently available on Amazon Books in both paperback and kindle formats.