Book Launch: Disposable Wives with Lynda Drews

Join Write On in celebrating the release of Lynda Drew's new Wisconsin historical true crime story, Disposable Wives: Murder and Menace in Green Bay's Rural Belgian Settlement. Lynda will discuss her research process as well as read selections from the book.

In the tranquil Belgian pioneer settlement near Green Bay, Wisconsin, gossip and legend surround a farmer named J.P. Soquet—including a series of purported murders—three of those his wives. This riveting true story, set in the decades following the Civil War, tells the remarkable means by which Pauline Villiesse, the sister of Soquet’s third wife, and Xavier Martin, a Belgian translator, seek justice for the “disposable wives” of J.P. Soquet.

A gripping account of crime in Wisconsin’s Belgian settlement, this well-researched work provides a rich portrait of the life, laws, and traditions of the era, and the challenges of seeking justice in a new land. ~ Belgian Heritage Center

Thought-provoking and engrossing… this tale embraces moral ambiguity, legal system failures, the rights and perceptions of women in this society… as it spins an engaging backdrop of early America’s communities and their leaders. ~Midwest Book Review

About the Author:

Lynda Drews retired from her thirty-year IBM Marketing career and began to write. The story of her female running friend's mysterious death in Green Bay was one she had to tell. Run at Destruction was the result. Publisher's Weekly said, "The author and victim's shared moments are remarkable," and Netflix adapted her book into a true-crime segment. Following that book, Lynda wrote two mysteries before returning to true crime. The Maid and the Socialite: The Brave Women Behind Green Bay's Scandalous Minahan Trials, was released in 2023. Midwest Book Review said the book is "written with the drama f fiction and the compelling research of fact." Lynda's historical true crime, Disposable Wives: Murder and Menace in Green Bay's Rural Belgian Settlement, was released in May, 2026. Lynda is active in the Brown County Historical Society, the Brown County Community Women's Club, and Write On Door County.