Bitty Martin, the author of "Snake Eyes: Murder in a Southern Town," being released May 15 by Prometheus Books, will address the NSDAR John Percifull Chapter when it meets at 11 a.m. Thursday.
The business meeting will follow the presentation, and there will be a brown bag lunch and time of fellowship to follow. Visitors are welcome. For information about the location of the meeting, call Frankie Ochsner, 501-525-1337, or Pam Rains, 501-620-9990.
"If you have a Revolutionary War Ancestor, please come and find out more about DAR," a news release said.
The story in "Snake Eyes" "begins in 1966 when Hot Springs was shaken to its core after a girl was found dead at Blacksnake Ranch. The owner claimed it was an accident, but people had their doubts. He may have gotten away with murder -- until he murdered again," the release said.
"The girl was Martin's schoolmate, 13-year-old Cathie Ward. Central Junior High School students never understood what happened to their friend. They heard rumors, but no one was talking. Not their parents, nor their teachers," it said.
"Martin and many of those students were touched by Cathie's short life like a high water mark after a flood and have been tethered to her all these years. Then a spooky event happened in 2014, which caused Martin to begin investigating Cathie's suspicious death and its connection to a vicious murder at the Redbird Laundromat by the owner of Blacksnake Ranch," the release said.
"This true story has been waiting a lifetime to be told," Martin says.
A graduate of Hot Springs High School, Martin holds a BSBA in Marketing from Henderson State University. After beginning her career at Arkansas State Parks and Tourism, Research Division, she served as the Hot Springs Y.W.C.A. executive director. Martin was employed in the marketing department of Arkansas Bank and Trust, and then joined Pittman & Associates advertising agency. Martin then worked at the Arkansas Times magazine as an account executive, following in the same position at KATV-Channel 7, and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Returning to college, Martin earned a nursing degree, RN, at UALR, began working at UAMS, and then became a "travel nurse" in operating rooms across the country. Throughout her varied career and travels, she never forgot her junior high school friend, whose tragic death had always been a mystery.
Martin's book can be preordered online at major bookstores and locally at Hot Springs' Books-A-Million.