Silver Lies

By: Ann Parker

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The crooked, the greedy, and those with a checkered past - they all came to Leadville with the same purpose: Get in, get rich, get out.

As 1879 draws to a close, silver fever burns hot in the Rocky Mountain boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, an assayer of precious metals, death stakes its own claim. Joe’s body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert’s saloon.

Inez already has much more to deal with than pouring shots of Taos Lightning. A lady educated on the East Coast, she has a past that doesn’t bear close scrutiny, due in part to her elopement with a gambling man who has recently disappeared. Most of the townsfolk, including Inez’s business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe’s death as an accident. Death, after all, is no stranger in Leadville. But Inez wonders why this loving husband and father was carrying a brass token good for “one free screw” at the parlor house of Denver madam Mattie Silks.

When Joe’s widow Emma asks Inez to settle Joe’s affairs, Inez reluctantly agrees and soon uncovers skewed assays, bogus greenbacks, and blackmail, leading her to believe that Joe was murdered. Was he killed over money or for purely personal motives? It’s up to Inez to find out.

Ann Parker, a science writer by day, is the author of the Silver Rush historical mystery series, of which Silver Lies was the winner of the Willa Cather Award for Historical Fiction and the Colorado Gold Award for Best Mystery.

©2003 Ann Parker (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Combines a kind of gritty grandeur with a knowing wisdom about the way the present shapes our perceptions of the past.” ( Chicago Tribune

“Meet Inez Stannert, the poker-playing, straight-talking, gun-toting owner of the Silver Queen Saloon and the heroine of Parker’s excellent debut…Drawing on historic facts and figures of 1870s Colorado, Parker tells a gripping tale of love, greed, and murder in the Old West, with a cast of convincing, larger-than-life characters, including a brief appearance from Bat Masterson himself. Inez is a woman well ahead of her time and a welcome addition to the genre, as is Parker, who has left enough loose ends to beckon readers to the next Leadville mystery.” ( Publishers Weekly)

“Silver Lies is a tale of greed, lust, and deception set in Leadville in its heyday, when men - and not a few women - stopped at nothing, not even murder, to strike it rich. Ann Parker gets is just right, and the result is a terrific debut novel.” (Margaret Coel, American historian and mystery writer)

Excellent new series read!

Any additional comments?

Inez Stannert, saloon owner, searches for murderer and cause for the death of her friend's husband who has been left destitute.
This is such an excellent book. I listened to it. The narrator did an incredible job differentiating the characters. And, Parker writes an excellent tale circa late 1870's during the Silver Rush in small town Colorado. She does an elegant job of painting the bitter cold backdrop. The characters are so vividly described, I felt I had known them for a long time. I had a hard time tearing myself a way for this listen. The plot is fairly complicated with multiple twists and turns and you never know where it is going to turn up. I did have some suspicions, some of which were correct, some which were extremely off. I am so glad this is a series. I can't wait to get involved in the next tome. I already went ahead and purchased the next two in the series.

1879 Rough and Rocky Colorado Silver Mines

Saloons, gamblers, madams, miners and counterfeiters . . . that's the townsfolk at Leadville . . . and even the so-called church going regular folk aren't all they appear to be . . . but all have one thing in common . . . they've come west to start over . . . and make their fortunes in the silver mines . . . with nothing as it appears to be, and when family man, Joe Rose is found trampled to death behind the local saloon, tongues start wagging . . . this is a good mystery (with some fine history of the time period) . . . it does have some offensive language and men and women in and out of bed with one another, as you'd imagine with brothels . . . its a fun and interesting listen . . . and people do redeem themselves . . . the inclusion of Bat Masterson made the story of special interest . . . the conclusion was excellent . . .

Leadville during the silver boom

As I live a mountain pass away from Leadville and portray a local restaurant owner from that time period during our annual ghost walk, I found this a fun listen. The descriptions of the saloon, the town streets and Inez’s home were spot on. I felt like I was walking through the streets of old Leadville and hearing the music from other saloons. I was surprised at the ending of “who done it”. This was a fun read and a great narrator.

Crime Loaded Mystery in Silver Rush of Colorado

This story is set in a mining town in Colorado during the 1870's. Filled with atmosphere and history of daily life in the post Civil War world of silver mines and money. So many twists and turns before it all becomes clear in this award winning first book in a series.

Kristen Potter read in such a silky smooth languid voice that at times I had trouble telling characters apart. Most of the time she just read the book with an occasional accent--probably for the best. Her voice had a mesmerizing quality.

Often while listening I thought that the character development was too minimal. Some characters became nothing more than names that were hard to place. In the end I thought this lack was part of the author's build up of intrigue and suspense--creating a feeling of not knowing what people were about. Not knowing who to trust, who the good guys were and who to watch out for. It definitely added to the level of danger and feeling of all around mayhem in the book.

If you enjoyed the HBO series Deadwood you will most likely love this book. If you are like me and try to listen to books in the same season they are set in--this installment should be read during the winter--December, January and February. It is a cold and wintery tale that was a bit out of place in the August heat of my listen. Unseasonal issue aside, I enjoyed this whirlwind suspenseful story. Be prepared for many gruesome details and a great deal of filth in the alleyways and off the wooden boardwalks of Leadville. The listening time flew by and I am left wondering about what happens in book 2 of the series.

Less than compelling

Well, it's not terrible - the writing is ok, and the narrator is good, but the story was really, really slow, and, even worse, predictable. The characters had no depth. A very dull way to spend 13 hours ( way too long).