Ann Parker (1)Besprekingen

(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.

What a lovely addition to this series. The characters remain strong, especially Inez, and the progression works really well.

The Secret In The Wall is the eighth book in the Silver Rush Mysteries series by Ann Parker.

I’ve read all the books in this beautiful series and have to say this is the best so far.

San Francisco 1882

Inez Stannert manages the D&S House of Music and Curiosities and will, from time to time, financially help female businesswomen. In this book, Inez goes into partnership with Moira Krause to let Krause purchase the building next to her’s so Krause can expand her boarding room business. After the papers are signed, Krause has one of her boarders take a sledgehammer to the shared wall between the two kitchens to combine both buildings.

When the bricks start to fall from the wall, a skeleton appears in the debris. Also found are some tattered remains of clothing and a bag of uncirculated double eagle gold coins. Inez’s challenge is to find out whose remains have been found and who will be able to claim the gold coins. Inez’s investigation will have her look into the original owner and his brother and whether they connected to the Civil War. Inez’s searching will take her to Alcatraz Island, where she will hope to find the final piece to the puzzle.

For me, the highlight of this book was the part of Inez’s ward, 12-year-old Antonia plays. Antonia is a younger image of Inez in that she is highly independent and curious. Antonia enjoys visiting the wharves and imagining the ships are crewed by pirates and wonder they might be off to the next.

When the body is found, Antonia meets Moira’s daughter Charlotte. The two feel that the original owners were probably pirates. Antonia enjoys sharing her pirate stories with Charlotte. When Charlotte finds a secret passage, she tells Antonia, and they plan that Charlotte needs help with her fractions and that Antonia should spend the night. They will work on the fractions, but they will also explore the hidden passage and soon find a secret room. Items they find there will help Inez with her investigation when she finally learns of the items.

This book tells a wonderful story and is well-written and plotted. There were enough red herrings that I kept guessing until the end of the book as to the killer's identity.
The characters are well-developed and believable. Many of the characters I would like to call my friend.

I will be looking forward to the next book in this exciting series.

I've followed Inez Stannert's path from the very first Silver Rush book, Silver Lies. It's a life that has been anything but ordinary and has had more than its share of surprises along the way. It's always a pleasure to see a favored series get stronger with each book, and I'm happy to say that The Secret in the Wall is the best Silver Rush mystery yet. I mean, who doesn't like a mystery that has a skeleton behind the wall, a bag of gold coins, secret passages, secret staircases, and secret rooms? And I haven't even mentioned Alcatraz yet!

Parker always does an excellent job of weaving historical facts into her mysteries, and this time she has the American Civil War and California's part in it to work with. It may be the 1880s, but The Secret in the Wall proves that the Civil War and all its conflict is bubbling away, barely beneath the surface.

What put the smile on my face and raised the enjoyment factor of reading this book tenfold was Inez's ward, teenage Antonia. The daughter of a murdered prostitute, Antonia was left to her own devices until taken in by Inez. Antonia chafes under any sort of authority, and the only reason why she puts up supervision from Inez is that she does respect the older woman. Inez is finding it difficult to keep Antonia on a solid path because she doesn't want to break the girl's amazing spirit. Inez had enough of that herself growing up in a wealthy family on the East Coast. Antonia seems to go out of her way to do the opposite of what she's told, and this only proves that Inez is trying to raise a fiercely independent younger copy of herself.

In The Secret in the Wall, Antonia makes a new friend, and since the new friend lives right next door to where the body in the wall was found, Antonia wants to have a lot of sleepovers at her new friend's house so they can sneak over to explore next-door's secret rooms and passageways. The young girls' investigations mirror Inez's with possibly grave consequences. It's amazing to me how Parker has created a character who exasperates me to no end yet still makes me laugh. Suffice it to say, when Antonia wasn't making me mentally rip my hair out, I was having the time of my life creeping around a derelict house with her in the wee hours of the morning.

And if you're in the mood for some fun in 1880s San Francisco, I strongly recommend joining Inez and Antonia in The Secret in the Wall.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley)½

suspense, thriller, private-investigators, historical-fiction, historical-places-events, historical-research, law-enforcement, lawyers, greed, murder, murder-investigation****

There was more than the glass eyed skeleton in that joining wall. There was a hoard of gold coins as well! The mystery was pretty good, but I felt lost among the recurring characters as this was the first of the books in the Silver Rush series that I've encountered. Still, I really enjoyed the mystery and all of the historical aspects.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.

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.½

Mortal Music is the seventh book in the A Silver Rush Mystery series.

Inez Stannert has been asked by Theia Carrington Drake to her new accompanist, to replace Rubio, who she has fired after hearing Stannert play. Theia and her husband have recently moved to San Francisco where Mr. Drake owns a newspaper, while Theia is a trained singer and will be giving performances through New Year’s Day.

The next morning after hiring Inez, Theia finds that her pet bird has been killed and her favorite dress has been cut to shreds. Mr. Drake hires Private Investigator de Bruijn to determine who did these despicable deeds. Inez and de Bruijn happen to meet at Drake’s suite, he to search where the damage was done and Inez to rehearse with Theia. Before long Theia’s understudy dies and her companion, Yvonne goes missing. Inez and de Bruijn decide that it is best to work together to solve this mystery.

Another compelling addition to this exciting series. The story is well-told and written with an interesting cast of characters. The author did an excellent job of providing what seems to be a very accurate depiction of the time. There were plenty of red herrings that kept me guessing till the end.

I will be watching for the next book in this series.

Ann Parker's historical Silver Rush mysteries have been a joy to read from the very first book, Silver Lies. Inez Stannert is a strong, intelligent, unconventional woman readers first met as an owner of a popular saloon in mining boomtown Leadville, Colorado. She's divorced her unfaithful conman husband and been forced to give her infant son to a family member to raise. Looking for a fresh start, she's moved to San Francisco with her young ward Antonia and opened a music store.

Readers always learn things when they pick up a Silver Rush mystery. In this year of 1881, Parker seamlessly weaves in facts about local San Francisco landmarks, music, the Comstock Lode, and the plights of African-Americans as well as dressmakers and other businesswomen.

As Mortal Music opens, Inez's young (and extremely headstrong) ward Antonia is bundled off to spend the holidays with the co-owner of the music store. I wondered about that because the give-and-take between these two strong-minded and independent souls often leads to laughter and plenty of headshaking on my part. However, it didn't take me long to realize why Antonia was shuffled off stage left. There's no way in the world Inez could deal with Antonia AND Theia Carrington Drake at the same time. She would've been driven berserk.

The private investigator de Bruijn adds quite a bit to the story. His ability to investigate things Inez isn't able to is important, but even more important is the dynamic between the two. There's a growing attraction there even though de Bruijn is having a difficult time dealing with Inez's personality. She's just not the usual sort of woman he runs across. She's more liable to pull out her revolver and shoot someone assaulting her instead of screaming for help.

Mortal Music is slow-paced and probably could have used a bit more editing to tighten up the story, and I found whodunit to be rather easy to deduce, but I didn't much care. There's just something about Inez Stannert and the world that Ann Parker creates that gives me so much pleasure that I'm willing to overlook a small bump or two along my reading road. If you enjoy historical mysteries and haven't read a Silver Rush book, I highly recommend the series and suggest that you begin with the first book, Silver Lies. If you're already a fan, be prepared to sink into this story with a happy sigh of anticipation.

Mortal Music is the seventh book in the Silver Rush series that features Inez Stannert, formerly of the Silver Queen Saloon in Leadville, Colorado. It’s 1881 and she has been hired as the accompanist to Theia Carrington, a world-famous opera singer who is performing her final concerts in San Francisco as the year winds to a close. Something is amiss among Theia and her entourage, though, as the very night Inez is hired, Theia’s pet bird is strangled and the gown she was wearing was torn to shreds. Theia’s husband Graham Drake hires local detective Wolter Roeland de Bruijn to solve the mystery. Inez agrees to be eyes and ears on the inside for de Bruijn.

This is a historical novel with a lot of details about San Francisco of the 1880s. Inez is a talentd pianist and a self-confident woman who knows her worth, someone not willing to be obeisant to Theia’s whims and abuse. She is observant and smart and is aware there are many hidden motives and connections at play. When it turns deadly, she is more than ready to fight for justice.

My reaction to Mortal Music shifted during my reading, I liked it a lot at the beginning and then drifted into boredom in the all-too-long middle and liked it again at the end. I though Ann Parker did a good job of creating the place of 1880s San Francisco. I was less convinced by her characters who other than the Inez and de Bruijn seem fairly flat. Theia is a stereotype and so is her husband. Most of the characters are. I nearly quit a few times during the long, long center of the book. A good quarter of the book could be cut without loss of any central portion of the mystery and it might be a more dynamic book. I am glad, though, I stuck it out to the end, even though the guilty party for the avicide was obvious from the start. I do appreciate the moral quandary at the end in terms of seeking justice. It’s a bold writer who doesn’t feel the need to have an all’s well that ends well ending.

Mortal Music will be released January 27th. I received an e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.

Mortal Music at Poisoned Pen Press
Ann Parker author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/9781492699477/

3.5 / 5 stars

1881 Holiday Season - San Francisco
Looking for an interesting historical mystery? Are you curious about the entertainment industry of 1880s San Francisco, its societal strata, and its effects on all those who serve the ton? Then this may well be a book for you.

Plucky Mrs. Inez Stannert, owner of a local music shop, as well as being a gifted pianist, gets tapped by Theia Carrington Drake, the new diva in town, to be her accompanist through the holidays. This is much to the chagrin of Theia's contracted accompanist, Rubio. Later that evening, Theia's precious songbird is killed and her favorite gown ripped to tatters and rendered worthless. Private Investigator, Wolter Roelof de Bruijn, is hired by Theia's wealthy husband, who is owner of the local newspaper, to find out who perpetrated these crimes against his wife. Within days, Theia's understudy is dead and Theia's companion, Yvonne, missing. Meanwhile, Inez and Theia are tirelessly preparing and executing four concerts over the course of two weeks. So much drama and mystery. Can Inez manage around all of the various landmines, the many secrets and perhaps solve the mysteries before anyone else gets hurt? Perhaps it's possible with the aid of Mr. de Bruijn or will she be out on her own limb? Time will tell.

What a twisted and engaging tale Ms. Parker has spun for her readers. There are tremendous twists and turns and many'a red herring throughout this book. The writing is solid. The atmosphere of the times is well described with all its equine dung heaps, opium den smoke, gas lamp aura, and foggy mists of 1880s San Francisco. The main characters are well developed and their backgrounds are revealed bit by bit over the course of the book. It does keep the little grey cells churning.

Ms. Parker has done a yeoman's job in her research of historic San Francisco, opera, the stage, its female performers and the Comstock Lode of Nevada. All of it is deftly woven throughout this interesting and creative story. Although this book is 7th in Ms. Parker's "Silver Rush Mystery" series, it capably stands on its own without leaving the reader adrift with missing details revealed in earlier installments. This is an entertaining, informative and suspenseful story. I look forward to reading other's by this gifted storyteller.

I am grateful to author Ann Parker and Poisoned Pen Press for having provided a free e-book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.½

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.

It's always a pleasure to watch a series grow from strength to strength, and this is exactly what I've seen happen with Ann Parker's Silver Rush series. There's always some fascinating historical snippets to learn, a fantastic setting, an engrossing mystery to solve, and a strong, intelligent main character to cheer on. Inez Stannert has not had an easy life, and she's needed every bit of her intelligence and determination to survive and to succeed.

What makes A Dying Note even more interesting is the addition of young Antonia Gizzi to the cast of characters. Antonia's short life has been even more difficult--she and her mother were abandoned by her father, and as her mother lay dying, Antonia had to learn how to live on the streets of Leadville. This little girl is sharp as a tack and, as my grandfather would say, as independent as a hog on ice. I loved Antonia's ability to answer questions truthfully without actually telling the honest truth. That takes a lot of skill. She's used to making her own decisions, and she doesn't trust anyone but Inez. Inez is probably the only person strong enough to deal with Antonia, and I'm certainly looking forward to seeing what happens next.

The pace of A Dying Note is excellent, and the scenes in which various characters are being followed through the streets of San Francisco are downright nerve-wracking. Even though the whodunit is relatively easy to deduce, learning all the hows and whys and getting the person out into the open is fun. This series is for all fans of historical mysteries, and if you haven't given it a try yet, I suggest you start at the beginning with Silver Lies. You've got some good reading ahead of you!½

A Dying Note is the sixth book in the Silver Rush series.

With this book we now find Inez Stannert and her ward, Antonia Gizzi, living in San Francisco. Inez is working D&S House of Music and Curiosities where she is the manager and gives music lesson. The founder and Inez’s partner, Nick Donato is a well-respected businessman and accomplished musician and spends a good part of his time seeking employment for musicians who frequent his establishment. The story centers around one of these musicians, Jamie Monroe. Monroe hopes to secure steady employment so he and Carmella Donato, Nick’s sister, can get married.

One day Inez is shocked to see Mrs. “Frisco Flo” Sweet, a madam and business partner of Inez from Leadville enter the music store. She learns from Frisco Flo that Harry Gallagher, a rich silver mine owner, has made her come with him to help look for his son. Gallagher has also engaged Wolter deBruin to aid in the search. Gallagher has threatened both them to ruin their businesses and reputations.

Then an unidentified body is discovered and with information that Flo has provided Inez knows that the body is that of Jamie Monroe, but is really Robert Gallagher, Harry’s son. Inez decides to keep this information from Gallagher for as long she can, hoping to learn who the killer is before telling Gallagher, thereby saving their businesses and reputations.

This is a wonderful historical series. The author has done a great job of researching, plotting and telling an interesting and exciting story and also providing an interesting and believable cast of characters.

Also included is a rather extensive list of references to learn more about the late 1800’s in San Francisco.

I will definitely be watching for the next book in this exciting series to see what adventures Inez and Antonia will have.

Excellent book, as usual. Inez and her band of friends, business acquaintances and enemies all mesh together create a wonderful historical mystery that captures the mind and weaves wonderful images in the process. Inez gets involved with a young man who sells newspapers on the street and hides secrets in his life. When his mother, a "mystic" is killed the true mystery begins. While all this is going on, Inez is trying to deal with the dissolution of her marriage to Mark Stannart and keep her various businesses running.

All in all a great mystery, a great story and some wonderful history thrown in to add atmosphere and spice to the mix. Give this series a read but to get the most out of it, start with the first and read through them all, they are all wonderful.

I've enjoyed Ann Parker's Silver Rush mysteries since the very first one, Silver Lies. Parker brings a mining boomtown to boisterous life-- to the point where you can picture yourself amazed at the noise while dodging horse-drawn freight wagons and trying not to lose one of your boots in the mud.

Parker has created a main character with a very unconventional lifestyle. Inez Stannert owns a saloon. She's trying to get a divorce from her charming con man husband who abandoned her for almost two years. She's also having an affair with another man. This is complication enough, but Inez also manages to solve murders at the same time. Needless to say, she is a strong woman, and it's interesting to see how other characters view her throughout What Gold Buys.

But Inez is not the only person trying to forge a decent life for herself. For me, the character of young Antonia was the best in the book. She doesn't believe in the mumbo jumbo that her mother spouts in order to earn money. She doesn't believe Mr. Brown ever intended to join them in Leadville, but just in case he does show himself, Antonia has plans for him. This little girl has gotten the short end of the stick her whole life, but she's got enough gumption to share with a dozen other children. I loved her.

The guilty parties are relatively easy to spot in What Gold Buys, but that's really not the focus of the mystery. It's the How, and the Who Did What that's not so easy to deduce.

Ann Parker's Silver Rush series is perfect for you if you love old mining towns, historical mysteries, and a strong female main character. It is possible to read What Gold Buys without reading the rest of the books in the series, but don't be surprised if you find yourself tracking down the others.½

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.

I do so enjoy my time spent with Inez and her adventures in Leadville, CO. This book is actually set a little south of Leadville in Manitou which is at the foot of Pikes Peak. She is there to see her son, William, who is visiting with Inez's sister Harmony and her husband Jonathan. During the stagecoach ride from Leadville to Manitou another passenger dies, apparently from a heart attack but Inez is puzzled that he died so quickly after drinking one of the tonics or "nostrums" that are mixed by the local doctor and given to those suffering from weak lungs and consumption, better known today as tuberculosis. This particular tonic was intended for the dead man's wife and Inez is immediately suspicious that the wife was the intended victim. Thus, she is on the hunt for what is rotten in the Mountain Springs House.

While trying to re-establish a relationship with her almost 2-year-old son, deal with the "risen from the dead" husband, and the cast of characters surrounding the Hotel keeps Inez busy and also in danger.

There is a lot of marvelous history in all of Ann Parker's books but this one has a wealth of information on the early days of medicine and the hunt for cures to diseases like consumption.

I can't wait for the next in the series.

This is the third book in the Silver Rush Mysteries and I enjoyed it but for some reason not as much as the first two. I'm not sure why, the characters were still engaging and the setting is outstanding. Maybe it was the heavy involvement of "ladies of the evening" combined with some pretty vicious people. That and I've never been a big Ulysses S. Grant fan and he has some role in what is going on here.

I'll continue with the series - I have to after the last line of the book (no spoilers here and you really need to read the whole book to get the full effect of that last line).

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.

This was my first in the Silver Rush mysteries, but it stands alone fine. Inez Stannert's husband, Mark, disappeared one year ago. In the time since then, Inez made the difficult choice to send her young son, William, to stay with her sister, Harmony, back East because his health was suffering in the high altitude. She has worked on piecing her life together since then.

The book opens as she is about to get her absent husband declared dead so she can move on with her personal life. She is traveling with her friend Susan, from Leadville to Manitou Springs to meet with her family and reunite with her son. During the long rough stage coach ride, fellow passenger Edward Pace dies after taking a tonic from Dr. Prochazka.

Inez and her family are staying at the fictional Manitou Springs House. The hotel intends to be an upscale hotel but also is cashing in on the throngs of people who come to Manitou for the mineral waters and healing. For the Manitou Springs House, this means having Dr. Prochazka as part of the hotel, tending to Tuberculosis patients. Edward Pace's widow asks Inez to investigate, believing that her husband was poisoned. Apparently Mr. Pace was interested in investing into the hotel while his wife was convincing him there was something amiss.

Inez has plenty of drama going on personally while she tackles investigating a death that only herself and the widow believe was a murder. Inez shows how tough western women were, and how they challenged society mores. Inez has reached a point where she knows what she wants and is about to grab the brass ring, only to have it yanked away. She comes out fighting, literally at times. From what I learned about Colorado history growing up, she is a realistic rendition of what many of the women who helped tame these parts were like. This book doesn't feature many of the standard secondary characters much, since the bulk of the story does not happen in Leadville. I would like to get to know the Leadville cast better.

Miss Parker did an excellent job with the history and sense of place. Since Manitou Springs is essentially my backyard, and only a few minutes drive for me, all of the scenery and even some of the buildings in the story, I grew up with. I felt like I was being transported back in time with the deft historical portrayal. The tuberculosis treatment centers in the storyline are a large part of the history in this area. Even at our University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the old Dwire Hall was a TB treatment center. I was afraid that I would not like the portrayal of local history and sights, but I had nothing to fear.

The plot is realistic since tuberculosis treatment really was a big business here, catering to middle and upper classes. The shady goings on at an upscale treatment center was well done. The personal life drama often took center stage and those were the parts that I skipped through. Some personal issues as a subplot are one thing, but there were times when Inez's personal problems nearly became the central plot, which I think slowed the pacing.

The climax was well done I felt, bringing to head all the snooping and suspicions to a dramatic show down. The wrap-up smoothed some of the drama, but promised that some issues would still be worked out in the next book.

Overall, this is a solid historical mystery with seamless period detail integrated with a tough female character. I loved it!

4th in Silver Rush Mysteries

Main Characters: Inez Stannert, part owner of Silver Queen Saloon

Setting: 1880s, Manitou Springs, Colorado

Obtained Through: Library

History/Mystery Club Pick

First Line: Inez Stannert had nowhere to run.

It's the summer of 1880, and many people diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis), are arriving at Manitou, Colorado, to chase the elusive cure. Inez Stannert isn't one of them. Part-owner of the Silver Queen Saloon in Leadville, she's traveling to Manitou to reunite with her young son and her beloved sister.

The journey by stagecoach is far from pleasant, and it turns lethal when businessman Edward Pace dies in front of the others inside the coach. Once they've arrived in the hotel, Pace's distraught widow asks Inez to look into her husband's death. Since something about it didn't seem right to Inez, she agrees. She's barely begun when she starts to uncover all sorts of shady business deals involving those hoping to profit from miracle cures to the desperate and the dying. Although she'd rather do without it, Inez realizes that she's going to need the help of a man just recently returned from an eighteen-month unexplained absence-- her own husband.

I've been a fan of Ann Parker's "Silver Rush" mysteries since the very first one, Silver Lies. I love the mining towns of the Old West, so Leadville, Colorado, is a perfect setting for an historical mystery series. Parker can put so much detail in her books, and it never comes across as a history lesson, or as preaching. In fact, Mercury's Rise may make a few readers cringe due to the characters' attitudes and behaviors towards those ill with tuberculosis, but Parker knows not to infect her nineteenth-century characters with twenty-first-century knowledge.

Although the plot is an involving one that kept me guessing, and I loved the Old West setting, Ann Parker's characters are what keep me reading and keep me coming back for each new book. Inez Stannert is a strong, independent woman who isn't always right and who doesn't always make the right decisions. Like most humans, she does the best she can with what she's got. She has a husband to deal with whom she believed was dead. She has a young son who's been raised by her sister and doesn't recognize her. And she has infuriating, interfering family members from back East who want to dictate her life for her.

There's a lot of meat on the bones of a Silver Rush mystery by Ann Parker. I intend to savor each bite, and I hope you'll join me at the feast.

I’m very interested in the spa and holistic cure phenomenon that has overtaken this country periodically over the last couple of centuries so, when I saw Ann Parker’s new book Mercury’s Rise, my curiosity was peaked. This is the 4th novel in the Silver Rush mystery series; however, it stands quite well on its own. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=2203

SILVER LIES by Ann Parker is a tale of greed and murder, set against the very authentic backdrop of Leadville, CO, in 1879, in the midst of its silver rush. Joe Rose, assayer and pillar of the community, is found dead behind the Silver Queen saloon, trampled in what appears to be a tragic accident. Inez Stannert, partner in the Silver Queen, isn't so sure, finding as she begins to look into his death that Rose may not have been as upstanding as his reputation indicated. Determined to do what she can for Rose's widow and son, Inez uncovers forces at work that seek at all costs to shut her down.

While set in a very real nineteenth century western town, Ms. Parker avoids all the Hollywood cliches of the modern western - no high-noon gunfights in the street, no white hats and black hats. Instead, she presents us with a setting that accurately conveys life in a silver boom-town, with all the forces - prospectors, assayers, investors, and those who seek their fortunes not from mining silver but mining the pockets of the miners. The plot is sufficiently intriguing to keep the reader guessing, and the characters are not one-dimensional cardboard cutouts. This is an excellent book for both the mystery fan and the aficionado of the genuine Old West. If it's on your to-read shelf, you're in for a treat; if it's not, you should put it there.

An engaging historical mystery, set in the days of Colorado's silver rush. Both the mystery and the characters are compelling. A worthy sequel to her first book, Silver Lies.