Iron Ties: A Silver Rush Mystery

This novel takes you back to the old west. The setting is unique - a bar in a mining town owned by a women and a black man who are friends. The author has the ability to make you visualize your surroundings - almost tasting the dust in the air. As you proceed through the book, you may have a tendency to read a little faster as the action increases. All in all a very satifying read.

It's the summer of 1880 in Leadville, Colorado, and the battle over which railroad will build the line through the Royal Gorge and into Leadville is over. Or is it? Inez Stannert's good friend Susan is taking photos in the country and witnesses a murder and sabotage along the new rail line. Or does she? Where did the bodies go? Or were there any bodies there at all? President Grant is coming to town on the new rail, are some disgruntled Civil War veterans planning murder? Or is the sabotage being planned by a competing railroad line? Once again saloon owner Inez Stannert is thrown into an ever changing mystery, as one clue turns up another after another, keeping you on the edge of your seat until the final end, as she brings this sky high city and the old west to life. I enjoyed the added twist of the disgruntled Civil War veterans still suffering from the effects of that horrific war, and their involvement in the mysterious plot against Ulysses S. Grant and the new rail lines, and most especially the added wrinkles to the character of the mysterious Reverend Sands. I hope this author continues with more books on Inez, as there is still one big puzzle still left untold at the end of this book. I want more!

In 1880 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad is coming to the mining boom town of Leadville, Colorado high in the Rocky Mountains. Most folks welcome the train though many have concerns. However, a few have much more than unease that the train might bring with it crime; this group has other plans for the shining silvery tracks that await the arrival of the first train carrying eastern dignitaries and VIPs like President Ulysses S. Grant. They blow up a section of the mountain causing a rock slide to bury the track. Silver Queen Saloon part owner Inez Stannert is one of those mixed souls as she knows her business will boom, but fears the type of clientele that will arrive. She misses her son William who is staying with his aunt by the sea to help heal his weak lungs; her spouse and William's dad Mark remains missing while Reverend Justice Sands makes his intentions clear to her. Inez finds badly injured photographer Susan Carothers near the site where the tracks were buried. Susan mentions murder and the killing of Generals. Unable to resist out of a fear that something bad is coming to her town, Inez investigates not yet realizing that the Civil War is not over in the minds of some. IRON TIES is a terrific Reconstruction Era mystery that provides the audience with a deep look at the period when official hostilities were over, but passions still flared into violence. The story line in many ways is more of a historical thriller though Inez's amateur sleuth investigation is deftly handled and the cast three dimensional. Ann Parker provides a delightful late nineteenth century Americana investigative tale. Harriet Klausner

Inez Stannert may have kept us waiting a couple years for her return after her debut in Silver Lies, but she hasn't exactly been sitting around in the interim. Both because of the damage that was done to it and in an attempt to drum up badly needed new business, she's renovating the Saloon she co-owns (or does she... it was never actually put down in writing), not that they are exactly flush with cash to do so. But that's OK, because Inez has other problems to take her mind off of that concern - her partner wants to hire one of her missing husband's most blatant indiscretions to work at the saloon. Her beloved son has been sent back East to her sister for his health, and she's not sure her family will ever let him return. Her relationship with the Reverend is threatened on the one hand by a pretty young thing with designs on him and on the other by her own efforts to keep it underground to save the Rev's reputation with the respectable church ladies (not to mention her being a bit commitment-phobic while still carrying somewhat of a torch for her missing husband). And then there's the Civil War vet she meets, with an electricity between them that practically thunders. She meets him while trying to help a friend who's been injured while witnessing a murder that Inez can't help wanting to investigate because that's how she is -cats come to her to learn about curiosity. How he makes her feel is problem enough, but he also opens new puzzles about who did what for which side during the war to go with the murder itself. And as stated, Inez cannot leave a puzzle alone. But these puzzles can rip apart both her saloon when some affected by the war hear fighting words and her heart when they open questions about whether some of the people she is most and least fond of are really who she thinks they are. Lurking not so far in the background are broader issues involving competing groups bent on completing a railroad link for Leadville and the impending but risky visit of President Ulysses S. Grant, given the unresolved conflicts that exist about the War Between the States. Life in Leadville is not exactly boring or relaxing. Set in 1880 Colorado, this is a historical mystery version of the good old fashioned, western, with boo-hiss worthy black hats and heroes worth cheering on. It's also exceptionally well researched. The setting on the western frontier of America is vividly depicted, with more of a pure western feel in this story than the debut, since it is less dominated by the silver boom aspects. While there are a number of subplots of various sorts to help make this a savory stew. But it's also interesting as part of a larger canvass with the lingering effects of the Civil War a key and fascinating element. Sometimes the effects of the War itself get lost in considering the slavery conflicts that triggered it. There's a lot of acrimony and conflict in the US today over the last few foreign wars we've been involved in, but that can't compare with what