(2003)Inez has been left by her husband to run a saloon in silver rush town, Leadville, CO along with her partner Abe. An assayer is found dead in the alley behind the saloon and this leads Inez into a search for his killer and that leads to a counterfeiting ring that is run by another woman running a competing saloon down the street. Pretty good mystery set in the 1870s. (PW) Inez Stannert, the poker-playing, straight-talking, gun-toting owner of the Silver Queen Saloon and the heroine of Parker's excellent debut, set in wintry Leadville, Colo., during the 1879 silver boom. Inez is married, yet her husband disappeared six months earlier with nary a trace. Her partner at the saloon, Abe Jackson, happens to be a free black man, to the dismay of much of Leadville's uptight and prejudiced populace. When a frozen corpse turns up in the mucky alley behind the saloon, Inez and Abe, still reeling from the damage caused by a barroom brawl, are shocked to learn it's their friend, precious-metals assayer Joe Rose. Joe, it seems, had a gambling problem and a nasty secret. His death puts Inez and Abe at odds with a crooked lawman, an infamous madam, a spurned suitor and the mysterious stranger who rides into town as the new minister. Drawing on historic facts and figures of 1870s Colorado, Parker tells a gripping tale of love, greed and murder in the Old West, with a cast of convincing, larger-than-life characters, including a brief appearance from Bat Masterson himself. Inez is a woman well ahead of her time and a welcome addition to the genre, as is Parker, who has left enough loose ends to beckon readers to the next Leadville mystery.

The crooked, the greedy, and those with a checkered past-they all came to Leadville with the same purpose: Get in, get rich, get out. As 1879 draws to a close, silver fever burns hot in the Rocky Mountain boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, an assayer of precious metals, death stakes its own claim. Joe's body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. Most of the townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. When Joe's widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe's affairs, Inez reluctantly agrees and soon uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail, leading her to believe that Joe was murdered.

This was a pretty good story, if a bit complicated to follow. Inez is not easily intimidated and willing to take things into her own hands, which is sometimes a bit of a stretch. It’s set in the wild west in the 1800s. The feeling of that comes across pretty well but sometimes the danger seemed to be missing. I thought the second half of the book was more interesting than the first. Overall, a decent story. ( )

This was an enjoyable historical mystery that takes place during the Colorado silver rush in the late 19th century. The main character was very human and definitely not perfect. Parker created characters that were both likeable and unlikeable at the same time. I liked that immensely. The story started off slowly, but the action in the story did pick up and kept me intrigued. The ending made sense to the story. I will definitely continue the series to see where the author takes these characters. ( )

Inez Stannert, saloon owner, searches for murderer and cause for the death of her friend's husband who has been left destitute.
This is such an excellent book. I listened to it. The narrator did an incredible job differentiating the characters. And, Parker writes an excellent tale circa late 1870's during the Silver Rush in small town Colorado. She does an elegant job of painting the bitter cold backdrop. The characters are so vividly described, I felt I had known them for a long time. I had a hard time tearing myself a way for this listen. The plot is fairly complicated with multiple twists and turns and you never know where it is going to turn up. I did have some suspicions, some of which were correct, some which were extremely off. I am so glad this is a series. I can't wait to get involved in the next tome. I already went ahead and purchased the next two in the series. ( )

Silver Lies is a very competent historical mystery that doesn't overplay its hand of modest charms. The result is a book that successfully kept me immersed and appreciative of the common pitfalls it avoids.

Ines Stanton becomes embroiled in the investigation of man who died behind her saloon. With numerous unsavoury characters in the prospecting boom-town of Leadville, the suspect list is as long as it is baffling. Struggling to cope with an absent husband and a charismatic - if mysterious - new reverend, can Ines keep the saloon, and herself, alive?

That summary sounds a lot more hackneyed than the novel actually is. Set ups like that tend to devolve into bad romance and even worse history, but I was so impressed that Parker avoided doing so, favouring instead a thorough approach to both history and writing.

Her research on Leadville was obviously extensive, and it shows. The town feels 100% corporeal, with none of the staginess that can infect bad historical novels, and better yet, she's made an effort to ensure her characters possess contemporaneous morals, language etc.

The writing itself shows a similar dedication. This is certainly not the most lyrical prose, but by the same token it is absolutely not indulgent, and the explication of Ines' feelings is done believably and without unnecessary melodrama.

I'm always on the lookout for female sleuths - especially of the historical variety - as they still seem relatively rare compared to their male counterparts, and I felt like there is a real awareness of that running through Silver Lies, like a vein of silver.

The book is hardly obssessed with "domestic" concerns, but Parker eschews the unrealistic myth of a robot-like (invariably male) detective living alone and unwanted, pursuing a criminal with a dogged insistence. Ines' attempts to grapple with her personal life, and the realities for women on a frontier are made clear and I found it both rewarding and interesting.

Parker's resolute refusal to slide into a romance novel, whilst not denying the importance and role of men in women's lives at that time was also handled deftly.

I downloaded Silver Lies from Poisoned Pen Press for free on my Kindle, however on conclusion I would have happily paid for it, and anticipate reading more of Parker's novels in this setting. ( )