How deeply was the Confederate Secret Service involved in the plot to kill Abraham Lincoln? Did the Confederate Secret Service assassinate Abraham Lincoln?” There are some strong indications that it did, but the facts uncovered in researching this question only raise more questions than they answer. After all, we are dealing with an issue of espionage and intelligence that originated in a government that hasn’t existed for 154 years.

But sometimes the best way to explore unanswerable questions is with a counterfactual story, or even an outright fiction. Frequent guest Sandy Mitcham (The Death of Hitler’s War Machine, Bust Hell Wide Open) is back with us today to discuss this topic by way of his new book “The Retribution Conspiracy.”

Sandy has couched his book in the form of a novel because there are some missing pieces. But he still provides an eye-opening account of spycraft and subterfuge in antebellum and Civil War America.