I
Love a Mystery
-
John A. Broussard
Leadville,
Colorado,
during the
winter of
1879, is an
example of
the stuff
Hollywood
Westerns made
famous. Saloons
and brothels
are the typical
businesses,
the silver
mines are
flourishing,
the streets
are frozen
mud, and corpses
in alleys
are common
sights. So,
when assayer
Joe Rose is
found beaten
to death behind
Inez Stannert’s
drinking establishment,
no one but
his wife Emma
is much concerned.
Inez becomes
involved,
partly through
her friendship
with Emma,
but also because
Joe has left
behind evidence
of strange
dealings —
involving
false mining
claims, faulty
assays, counterfeit
money and
plenty of
indications
that he wasn’t
the honest,
God-fearing
man the townspeople
believed him
to be. Knowing
that the local
police are
corrupt and
unconcerned
about one
more body,
Inez sets
out to find
out who killed
Joe. SILVER
LIES
is appropriately
titled, since
silver is
at the heart
of the story,
and lying
is a way of
life for the
inhabitants
of Leadville.
It’s
in the midst
of trying
to untangle
this web of
falsehoods
that Inez
finds help
from strange
sources, and
enemies among
those she
thought were
friends. Parker
has a feel
for the time
and place
that the reader
will appreciate.
A minor flaw,
and not of
her doing,
is an anachronistic
cover showing
what is presumably
Leadville,
with electric
light poles
decades ahead
of time.
Letter
to John Broussard
from Ann Parker
http://www.iloveamysterynewsletter.com/john_a__brouusard1.htm
