Book description
The railroad is coming west, all the way to Leadville and its rich
Rocky Mountain mines, not to mention millionaires. And who is coming to
celebrate the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande but Ulysses S.
Grant, 18th President of the United States and former commander of the
Union armies. Like other residents in the Colorado boom town this summer
of 1880, Inez Stannert regards the news as mixed. With her business
partnership in the Silver Queen Saloon shaky and the bonds of family
tightening (her husband is still missing and her baby is still back
East), Inez doesn't need the lawlessness of Leadville to turn, once
again, into murder. But Inez isn't the only one with iron ties to the
past. Some folks have wicked memories of the war, others a stake in the
competing railroad lines. And Inez's friend, photographer Susan
Carothers, gets caught in the crossfire. . . . Set in the summer of
1880, Parker's outstanding second Silver Rush mystery (after
2003'sSilver Lies ) finds her heroine, Inez Stannert, corset-deep in the
intrigues of Leadville, Colo. Inez's secret courtship with the Rev.
Justice B. Sands is as heated as the conflict over the incoming
railroad. When the local authorities question the reliability of Inez's
friend, photographer Susan Carothers, who witnesses a shooting and
explosion along the rail line, it's up to Inez to discover the truth. In
one of the many nice twists in this appealing adventure, the attractive
railroad man Inez meets during her investigation turns out to be one of
the good reverend's Civil War comrades. In an effort to increase
business at the Silver Queen saloon, Inez's business partner, Abe
Jackson, engages an acting couple to perform. None too happily, Inez
realizes why the beautiful actress seems so familiar. A ragged piece of
cloth becomes a major clue as the clock ticks and the town readies for a
visit from former U. S. president Ulysses S. Grant. Plenty of convincing
action bodes well for a long and successful series. Ann Parker's
award-winning Silver Rush mystery series features saloon-owner Inez
Stannert in the 1880s silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. The series
includes SILVER LIES, IRON TIES, LEADEN SKIES, and the upcoming
MERCURY'S RISE. Ann's ancestors include a Leadville blacksmith, a
Colorado School of Mines professor, and a gandy dancer. Ann and her
family live in the San Francisco Bay Area (although she'd really really
love to move to Colorado), where she slings scientific and corporate
verbiage by day to pay the bills and writes historical mysteries at
night to satisfy her soul.
