Midwest Book Review

Iron Ties
Poisoned Pen, $24.95 (369p)
ISBN: 1590582624

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.