Book description
The summer of 1880: although possible investment in Leadville's silver
mines is a main reason that former president and Civil War general
Ulysses S. Grant is now touring this city at the top of the Rockies,
others in his retinue and in town are enticed by other visions. As part
owner of the Silver Queen Saloon, Inez Stannert has often observed the
ruination that comes from yielding to temptation. Still, that knowledge
hasn't stopped Inez from striking a backroom deal with upscale brothel
madam Frisco Flo, a deal that Inez gambles will make her financially
independent. In July, 1880, former President Ulysses S. Grant arrives
in the mining town of Leadville, Colorado, on a five day visit. Silver
Queen Saloon co-owner Inez Stannert is divorcing her missing husband,
while having an affair with Reverend Sands. Being an astute
businesswoman, Inez conceals her partnership in a local brothel with
Madam Frisco Flo. When Lizzie, a prostitute, is murdered, Inez becomes
worried about her investment. Used to fixing problems before they become
catastrophic, as she is doing with her marital status, Inez investigates
the homicide. She quickly learns of another silent partner but can't
learn their identity. She draws the ire of the town's power brokers from
mine owners to politicians to the reporters. However, that anti-Inez
fervor expands when prostitutes and mothers become irate at her
inquiries. However, the only one she fears alienating is Hatchet, the
tax collector. As long as she avoids him, she will keep digging. LEADEN
SKIES is a post Reconstruction Era frontier thriller that brings to life
a Colorado mining town at a time when change is occurring: Union troops
have just left the south and women's suffrage, although losing momentum,
is still being pushed in the Rockies. Inez is terrific as she holds the
story together with her inquiry that alienates the entire town of
Leadville, who want nothing to upset General Grant's visit. Although the
whodunit takes a back seat to one woman's struggle to remain
economically independent in the late nineteenth century, Ann Parker
writes a wonderful Americana tale. 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.
