The Third Coffin

The Third Coffin is a fictional story about the adventures of Dr. Jim Sinclair, a doctor from Chillicothe, Ohio. The story involves a visit by Dr. Sinclair to Newfoundland, where he spent much of his childhood and where his father was killed in a tragic accident. The story becomes a mystery when Dr. Sinclair runs across others who are following the same route for a reason he does not understand. His involvement in the mystery becomes acute when he is arrested for a murder he did not commit.

The themes of The Third Coffin are: (1) Sinclair's emotional imbalance secondary to events that occurred in his childhood, (2) the mysterious search that embroils him and leads to murder, (3) the present economic struggle of Newfoundlanders and how various people are meeting or failing to meet the challenges, (4) the obscure and fascinating history of the native peoples of Newfoundland and their struggle for recognition, which so far has been denied to them, (5) the religious philosophy of the Mik'maq Indians, and (6) how all these factors mesh into the little known but well documented history of events surrounding the original peoples of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, especially their exposure to visitors from the old world, both pre and post Columbian.