Iron Ties
Silver Rush Historical Mystery Series #2
by Ann Parker
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….
Winner of the 2007 Colorado Book Award for Best Genre Fiction and 2007 Arizona Book Award for Best Mystery/Suspense Novel.
(112,000 words; available as ebook, print, and audiobook)
“Set in the summer of 1880, Parkers outsanding second Silver Rush mystery (after 2003’s Silver 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.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Susan Carothers is a young photographer in the Old West, hoping her prints of the magnificent Colorado landscape will sell in her gallery. But a solo trip into the high country quickly turns into a nightmare when she witnesses a murder, and a dynamite blast unleashes a rockslide that kills one man involved in the murder and nearly kills her. Carothers recuperates while her friend, Inez Stannert, tries to piece together what exactly it was that Susan witnessed. Stannert owns Leadville’s saloon and can’t afford to have the small community on which she’s staked her future be reduced to lawlessness. This sequel to the critically acclaimed Silver Ties (2003) will not disappoint Parker’s fans. The characters have depth, their motivations are subtle, and their pain very human. Add carefully researched and fascinating period detail, and one has a carefully crafted novel that will appeal to readers of mysteries, historical fiction, and genre westerns.” —Booklist
