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| Plot Summary of Silver Lies |
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Poisoned Pen Press, Sept 2003, 24.95, 420 pp.
ISBN 1590580729
Leadville, Colorado is booming in 1879 as people arrive hoping to get rich by finding the silver mother lode. Inez Stennert is becoming rich as the owner of the Silver Queen Saloon but her personal life is very unsettled because her wandering man walked out one day and never came back. Inez doesn't know if her husband is alive or dead; she waits for him while her sister raises her sickly son back east.
Fight and brawls are frequent occurrences but everyone is shocked when upright family man Joe Rose is found murdered behind Inez's saloon. Inez starts investigating the assayer's homicide because his widow and son are very dear to her and she would like to be one to bring his killer to justice. She learns that Joe was not as law abiding as she believed and her questions are making some people very uneasy, individuals who will not hesitate to kill her if she gets too close to the truth.
Ann Parker captures the ambiance of a mid-nineteenth century western boomtown so colorfully that readers will imagine they are there. The heroine is an independent woman who lives by her own rules at a time when females were expected to stay in their place. Inez is bossy and stubborn but she is also the kind of person one wants to have in your corner when life turns rough. Let's hope there are more stories starring this one of a kind protagonist.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Silver Lies |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
How difficult to spot villain?
- Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story:
- american wild west
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 70%
Special suspect?
- investigator him/herself
Misc. Murder Plotlets
- Proving innocence of very obvious suspect
Kind of investigator
- amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- life in that culture
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- small businessman
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- a little
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- prostitute
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- West
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 2
Amount of dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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