Sometimes you can't keep your gown out of the gutter...
Inez Stannert has reinvented herself―again. Fleeing the comfort and wealth of her East Coast upbringing, she became a saloon owner and card sharp in the rough silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, always favoring the unconventional path―a difficult road for a woman in the late 1800s.
Then the teenaged daughter of a local prostitute is orphaned by her mother's murder, and Inez steps up to raise the troubled girl as her own. Inez works hard to keep a respectable, loving home for Antonia, carefully crafting their new life in San Francisco. But risk is a seductive friend, difficult to resist. When a skeleton tumbles from the wall of her latest business investment, the police only seem interested in the bag of Civil War-era gold coins that fell out with it. With her trusty derringer tucked in the folds of her gown, Inez uses her street smarts and sheer will to unearth a secret that someone has already killed to keep buried. The more she digs, the muddier and more dangerous things become.
Ann Parker earned degrees in Physics and English Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, before falling into a career as a science/corporate writer. During the daylight hours, she scribbles about "bleeding-edge" scientific R&D. At night, she delves into the past. Ann is listed in the Colorado Authors' Hall of Fame.
The early books of her award-winning Silver Rush historical mystery series are set primarily in the 1880s silver boomtown of Leadville, Colorado, and feature Silver Queen Saloon owner Inez Stannert—a woman with a mysterious past, a complicated present, and an uncertain future. The first in the series, Silver Lies, won the Willa Literary Award for Historical Fiction and the Colorado Gold Award and was a finalist for the Bruce Alexander Historical Mystery Award as well as for the Western Writers Association Spur Award for Best Novel of the West. It was chosen a best mystery of the year by Publishers Weekly and The Chicago Tribune.
Iron Ties, the sequel to Silver Lies, won the Colorado Book Award (CBA) for Popular Fiction. In its starred review, Publishers Weekly says, "Parker's outstanding second Silver Rush mystery finds her heroine, Inez Stannert, corset-deep in the intrigues of Leadville, Colo. . . . Plenty of convincing action bodes well for a long and successful series."
Leaden Skies, the third Silver Rush mystery, was a CBA finalist. Booklist calls it "a lively historical tale with a strong female protagonist. The intricate plot, lively characters, and vividly realized historical landscape will appeal to those interested in the Old West as well as to historical-mystery fans."
Mercury's Rise, fourth in the series, is winner of the Bruce Alexander Memorial Historical Mystery Award, and finalist for: the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery, the Colorado Book Award (Genre Fiction), the Macavity / Sue Feder Memorial Historical Mystery Award, and the Willa Literary Award for Best Historical Fiction. About Mercury's Rise, Library Journal says: "Encore!"
What Gold Buys, the fifth in the series, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called it "emotionally and historically convincing." What Gold Buys was a finalist for: Best Historical Mystery Novel, Lefty Award; the Sarton Women’s Book Award (Historical Fiction); the Macavity Historical Novel Award; and the Will Rogers Medallion Award (Western Romance).
The next three books in the series take Inez and her young ward, Antonia Gizzi, to San Francisco. Information for A Dying Note (#6), Mortal Music (#7), and The Secret in the Wall (#8) can be found on Ann's website at https://annparker.net/books/ .
For more information about the series and Ann's other writings, see https://www.annparker.net.
The Silver Rush series is published by Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks.
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