Kline, Michael J. The Baltimore Plot: The First Conspiracy to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Ill. Maps. Notes. Bib. Index. 520p. ISBN 1-59416-071-4. $29.95 Nov. 2008.

One of the mysteries of the American Civil War and one that will be a subject for debate among enthusiasts of all stripe is what has come to be known as the Baltimore Plot – was it real or not? Was there a plan in place to make sure that President-elect Lincoln did not survive long enough to take the oath of office? Or was it all just a figment of master detective Allan Pinkerton's over – active imagination? Author Michael J. Kline, an attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, sifts through the historical facts and determines that a conspiracy case based on circumstantial evidence can be made, which he does with amazing detail.

Using a background scenario reminiscent of “Murder on the Orient Express” - Abraham Lincoln's train trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington DC, with as many stops for handshakes and speeches as could be crammed into an eleven-day journey – Kline shifts scenes from the train to the City of Baltimore and back again. He introduces us to a large cast of characters: Lincoln associates, undercover detectives, political ne'er-do-wells and rabid secessionists bent on political assassination. Some are known to most readers and some are not. In Lincoln's entourage we find Colonel Edwin V. Sumner and Elmer Ellsworth, both to become more recognizable during the war; in Baltimore, Allan Pinkerton and his top undercover operatives Kate Warne (the first female detective), Timothy Webster and Harry Davies; in Washington, Louis Wigfall and James Seddon, along with Maryland's Governor Thomas Hicks, wanted Lincoln dead and the District of Columbia in Confederate hands; and finally, Otis Hillard, Cypriano Fellandini, and John Wilkes Booth, native Baltimorean, always in the background, already a Lincoln-hater by 1860.

In presenting this story as a case, Kline delves into an explanation of legal terms and conditions that must exist for a criminal case to be viable. He explains motive, means and opportunity along with other legal concepts with simplicity and clarity, which makes it easier for the lay person to understand and follow.

One of the subjects in this book which leaves a lasting impression is the city of Baltimore itself – a city with a history of erupting into mob violence as a response to some political event – be it an election, law passed or a declaration of war – the city was definitely passionate, excitable and lawless. “Mobtown” - its least flattering nickname – was terrorized by gangs of thugs who felt that violence was a blood sport. For example, in 1812, (as Kline relates), after President James Madison declared war on Great Britain for the second time in a generation, the Baltimore mob indiscriminately attacked anyone opposed to the war. In its path, the mob found General Henry Lee, father of Edward Robert, and administered a beating that crippled him and led to his death six years later. Another Revolutionary War hero, Maryland's General James Lingan, was not so lucky. He died on the floor of the jail where he was taken for his own “safety”.

Perhaps the strong point in this story is the fact that Lincoln did change his published itinerary in order to pass through Baltimore unnoticed. According to Lincoln himself, it was the corroborating evidence produced by a separate investigation undertaken by the New York City Metropolitan police that changed his mind. They uncovered enough of the same evidence to convince Lincoln.

Was there a conspiracy that threatened Lincoln's life in 1861? There certainly was in 1865 – one that succeeded. David Lee Poremba