What Gold Buys

Once again, the fifth from Parker (Iron Ties, 2013, etc.) is much better history than mystery, drawing the reader into the stunning beauty and harsh realities of life in 1880s Colorado. * Kirkus Reviews *
Beyond all the well-researched period details is a very well-written story of relationships, gamblers and philanders, of spiritualists and murder. There is very good suspense which builds well throughout the story.~~~“What Gold Buys” is an excellent historical mystery with a very exciting climax and an intriguing ending which leaves readers wanting to know what happens next. – LJ Roberts * Mystery Readers Journal Magazine *
Parker expertly captures the roughness of a mining town where saloon owners and brothel madams seek to separate prospectors from their money. Foppish drunken Englishmen, sinister undertakers, and reporters round out the cast of characters. * Historical Novel Society *
The boomtown of Leadville is described so well, it is possible to envision slogging through the mud and ice and snow of the streets oneself. Characterizations bring the players to life. I have been to Leadville. Not much of a town today, but the stories and legends of its boom time linger whispering in the streets. The surrounding Rocky Mountains add mightily to the story line. – Mary Ann Smyth * Bookloons *
In Parker’s emotionally and historically convincing fifth Silver Rush mystery (after 2011’s Mercury’s Rise), saloon keeper Inez Stannert is reunited with her unfaithful husband, Mark, in Leadville, a silver-mining Colorado boomtown, in October 1880. She barely has time to check on their business, the Silver Queen Saloon, before discovering a dead body in a shanty in Leadville’s red-light district. The victim is fortune-teller Drina Grizzi, whose predictions have led to many conflicts. The corpse vanishes within hours, perhaps stolen by “resurrection men” hunting bodies to sell for dissection. As more murders follow, Inez attempts to untangle the crimes with the help of Drina’s feisty 12-year-old daughter, Antonia, with whom she forms an enduring bond. She must also sort out her feelings for Mark and the lover who still has her heart, Rev. Justice Sands. Parker wraps up the mystery deftly but leaves Inez’s future sufficiently unresolved so that readers will eagerly await the next installment. (Sept.) * Publishers Weekly *

Ann Parker is the author of the award-winning Silver Rush historical mystery series set in the 1880s, featuring music store owner and nineteenth-century angel investor Inez Stannert. A science writer by day, Ann lives in the San Francisco Bay area and is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Women Writing the West.

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