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By Connie Tonsgard, a screenwriter, mother and homemaker in Juneau, Alaska.
 When I was eight years old, my family moved from a major city in the Pacific
Northwest to a farmhouse 23 miles from the nearest town. We had no
television or radio, so I became an avid reader of anything I could get my
hands on. I found a treasure of musty books in the old farmhouse attic, one
of which was a literature book full of poetry. I was impressed by Emerson's
"Concord Hymn" so much that I memorized it.Years later when looking for "the perfect town", I remembered the poem with the bridge and waters that were spoken of in it. After a little research and the beautiful pictures I saw on the Concord Magazine web site, I decided that Concord would be the perfect setting for my feature length script, "A Death in Concord". I needed a rural town that artists of all kinds emerged from, but one that was close enough to a big city and Cape Cod, for those sites also play a role in the script. After numerous rewrites, "A Death in Concord" has been named a finalist four times, a semifinalist once, a quarterfinalist twice and has two honorable mentions to its credit. Updates on its progress are available now and again here. I've been pleased that people in the business have been calling it a "1940's film noir". I hope the below gives you the feel of the movie.
Sea spray on rocks of Cape Cod. In the distance a lighthouse. Boston lights twinkle. Lush countryside. Misty fog swirls. Fog gives way to dawn in the midsts of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The calm, wide Concord River runs through the serene Great Meadows. The Old North Bridge. The picture perfect small town of Concord. Children with backpacks chatter and play. Leaves drift down. A school bus chugs down the street. Our journey ends in full daylight at the door of the Middlesex County Courthouse...
Synopsis: What lies under the surface, though, comes to fruition when Rose learns of Dan's affair and boots him out. Rose learns Dan has depleted her inheritance, her friends have dwindled, and her new love interest turns out to be a spy. The spy (Val) a sexy Greek man, has been asked to cause Rose to have an accident for more money, a new SUV and a green card; but he has fallen in love with Rose. He spends a week with her at Cape Cod weighing the pros and cons before he decides he just can't do it. Rose finds a rental agreement in the glove box signed by Dan's associate and the affair is over. Dan learns Val has not done the job and has him picked up by immigration. He hires a professional killer.
Rose learns of the exorbitant life insurance policy Dan has taken out on Tigerlily and suspects he had something to do with her death. She finds a clue at the scene and turns it over to the family attorney, Ray. Ray urges Rose to get out of town before she shares a similar fate. Her only friend is Mrs. Blackwell who she met recently on a trip to Cape Cod. Mrs. Blackwell lives a comfortable existance alone after her niece--who bore a striking resemblence to Tigerlily--disappeared some 15 years ago. Rose changes her will, citing Mrs. Blackwell as the beneficiary. Just as Rose is packing for Cape Cod, Val calls her from jail and warns her of her husband's murderous plans, but the killer is already in the house. After a scuffle that leaves both Rose's and the killer's blood in the house, Rose escapes only to be chased to Cape Cod. Mrs. Blackwell has a heart attack and Rose's fight with the killer ends in the Atlantic Ocean. Rose is found on the beach and poses as Mrs. Blackwell's missing niece so that fingers will be pointed at Dan for her disappearance. Documents that had been previously shared with Rose give her the ability to carry out the facade and to collect the inheritance from Mrs. Blackwell's estate as well as her own estate in Concord that had been willed to Mrs. Blackwell. Rose finds she is pregnant from her affair with Val, and follows him to Greece. Artwork: Courtesy of Art Today
 
 
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Opening Scene: 
What could be worse? Rose's beloved daughter has a fatal head injury from a
bike accident and dies.