The
Leadville
Herald
Democrat
October
30, 2003
Silver
Lies is
story
of 1879
Leadville
By
Jenn Wiant
- Herald
Staff Writer
When
Joe Rose
is found
trampled
in an alley,
State Street
salon owner
Inez Stannert
seems to
be the only
one interested
in figuring
out who
killed him.
Joe
and Inez
are characters
in Ann Parker's
novel Silver
Lies, which
takes place
in 1879
Leadville
at the height
of the mining
boom.
Inez
is the spunky
part-owner
of the Silver
Queen saloon
who speaks
her mind
and isn't
afraid to
fight for
what she
believes
is right.
She also
has a tendency
to fall
for powerful
men, including
real-life
sheriff
Bat Masterson,
mine owner
Harry Gallagher
and the
mysterious
Reverend
J.B. Sands.
Silver
Lies is
a fast-paced,
intriguing
murder
mystery,
but also
an educational
look at
historic
Leadville
and the
mining
life.
Readers
learn
about
how claims
are staked,
what precious
metal
assayers
do, and
some of
the strategy
and politics
behind
mining.
The reader
gets a
good feel
for what
life was
like in
a place
where
drinking,
gambling
and visiting
brothels
are staples
of life,
and death
is so
common
that it
is often
not thoroughly
investigated.
Parker's
easy style
makes the
novel easily
digestible,
and the
large cast
of characters
and numerous
sub-plots
make everyone
a suspect
and keep
the 410-page
novel interesting.
Well-placed
hints eventually
lead to
the killer,
but one
moment of
foreshadowing
towards
the middle
of the book
is overly
obvious
and almost
gives away
part of
the ending.
Silver
Lies is
Parker's
first
novel
and a
winner
of the
2002 Colorado
Gold Writing
Contest.
Parker
is a science
writer
living
in Silicon
Valley
whose
ancestors
include
a Leadville
blacksmith
and a
Colorado
School
of Mines
professor.
Her grandmother
attended
high school
in what
is now
the National
Mining
Hall of
Fame and
Museum.
Parker
became interested
in Leadville
six years
ago at a
family reunion.
When her
uncle Walt
mentioned
that her
paternal
grandmother
was raised
in Leadville,
Parker immediately
asked about
the town
she knew
nothing
about. She
became thoroughly
intrigued
by this
story about
Leadville
in a Colorado
guidebook:
a gravedigger
hit silver
while digging
a grave
at Evergreen
Cemetery
in the 1880s.
He immediately
staked out
the graveyard,
leaving
the dead
body frozen
on top of
the snow
until spring.
Parker
had written
about a
third of Silver
Lies and
had done
so much
research
about Leadville
when she
came to
visit the
city for
the first
time that
she "felt
like I was
coming home," she
said.
After
that first
visit, Parker
returned
to Leadville
annually.
While here,
she chatted
with Judge
Neil Reynolds,
took photographs,
and spent
hours in
the library.
Parker was
also able
to look
through
letter George
Elder, grandfather
of local
Bob Elder,
had sent
to his family
while he
was living
in Leadville
during 1879
when Silver
Lies takes
place.
"Everyone
has been
so helpful
and so welcoming
to me in
my journey," Parker
said of
Leadville
residents.
Silver
Lies is
now available
at The
Book Mine.
http://www.leadvilleherald.com/
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