Book description
Inez Stannert, one of the partners in the Silver Queen Saloon in
Leadville, Colorado, travels to a fashionable summer retreat for a
reunion with her son, now a toddler in the care of her sister. Manitou,
at the foot of Pike's Peak, was not just a spa tourism destination in
the summer of 1880-it was often a last resort for those ill with
tuberculosis. Inez and her photographer friend Susan chose the stage
coach for the scenery, but their journey to Manitou turns lethal when
East Coast businessman Edward Pace grows faint, swigs some medicine, and
dies under their horrified gaze. On their arrival at the posh Mountain
Springs House, Pace's widow rejects a weak heart theory and begs Inez to
investigate. As Inez digs deeper, she uncovers the shady side of spa
tourism including spurious claims, profiteering from the coming bonanza
in medicinal waters and miracle cures, and medical practitioners who
kindle false hopes in the desperate and the dying. Pace's sudden demise
is not the only event that tarnishes Inez's hopes of a happy reunion
with her son and sister. Mark Stannert has reappeared after a year and
a half's unexplained absence. Now she must fight to hold on to her
child and the life she has built for herself in an era where
“independent woman” is an oxymoron. 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.
