A mysterious death deep in the history of a Colorado silver mining town. A woman running her missing husband’s saloon. A whole slew of characters from various backgrounds all with the hope of making a life, and at least a bit of a fortune. All this is wound together with masterful storytelling in Silver Lies.

Edited to add that I've enjoyed this series so much that I bought all for Kindle and also in paperback for Mom!

This was a pleasant surprise! I "purchased" it and the third book in the series for free from Amazon some time ago. Was very good and I'm looking forward to reading the 2nd one in the series as a library loan.

This is a historical mystery series that takes place in Leadville, Colorado in the late 1870's and early 1880's during the Silver Rush. The main character, Inez Stannert, owns a saloon with her missing husband's partner, Abe Jackson. Actually the back story of her husband is only a small part of the book. The actual mystery concerns the murdered husband of Inez's friend.

What drew me into the story were the details of life in Leadville, which was actually a real mining town, and the interactions between the numerous characters. Inez is a complicated woman who's past is revealed a little at a time. In fact most of the characters have "shady" pasts and that is part of the charm of the book. I almost felt like I was reading an episode from the TV show "Maverick" although this is a much grittier telling of the West.

A very strong beginning for this series!

Not usually my go to genre. I rarely read mysteries. Sometimes I do historical fiction but hardly ever from the Victorian age. I read this because I live in Leadville Colorado. It was fun to read a story based here.

That being said. I thought I had mystery solved two or three times. My original guess was correct. I enjoyed the journey.

Trigger warnings for:
Sexual assault
Murder
In general abuse

Inez is co owner of the Silver Queen Saloon. Her husband left her and she's not sure where he is. One of her patrons, and husband of her good friend is found dead behind her establishment. Inez does not trust the Sheriff and decides to find the killer herself and gets into a lot of trouble.

I love stories about Leadville. I've been there many times and enjoy reading about the early days. This was a good story and the author didn't try to get by with just the famous and colorful people that lived there. She made a good story out of unknowns. I'll read the next in the series to see where it goes from here.

Inez is the wild west fantasy of my childhood. I really enjoyed following along with her through the case. The mystery was a good one leading us on unexpected twists and turns through the victims life and Leadville the mining town. Parker clearly did her research making sure the historical aspects were rich and authentic. The love story was well paced and I felt the two were well matched. It wasn’t my favorite couple of all time but they were easy to root for. 

I write this review having read the first four books in the series. It’s a well planned series so there is tension in the individual plots and subplots planted to grow throughout the next books. I highly recommend reading this and the subsequence books (well up to the fifth book I haven’t gotten that far)

I really liked it. The characters are complex and are not always what they seem on the surface. And I especially like that they are very human and very flawed. The heroine is not picture perfect. She and the people surrounding her have different motivations at different times. And they even stop to ponder their own needs and wants from time to time. The mystery is also complex and although the final conclusion is foreshadowed, how all the puzzle pieces fit together keeps you interested through the end. But it's the historical details that make this book come to life. This is no pristine, clean version of the wild west. There is plenty of mud and snow and bodily fluids. And there are corsets and buttons and lucifers (matches) and tons of tiny details that really enrich the story.

(Cathy)

Interesting story. Good historical fiction and a decent mystery. Would recommend.

It was fine I guess. Started out ok, a little interesting. But then all the weird twists kept making it more and more outlandish. And, it was taking too long to finish and I lost track of who's who and lost interest. 92%

The mystery plotting was alright, I really enjoyed all the historical details, but the characters fell a bit flat to me.

It's 1879 in Leadville, CO and Ann parker introduces us to Inez Stannert. A saloon owner and very well portrayed lady of her time. When the body of Joe Rose is found behind her saloon Inez takes it upon herself to see what happened to him as no one else seems to care. Inez is a very complex lady and Ms. Parker has surrounded her with well fleshed out characters. I had a blast visiting Leadville and learned a bit about the silver boom in Colorado as well.

Excellent; Continuing character: Inez Stannert (first in series); a saloon keeper in a town beset by those seeking fortunes in silver, sets out to find the killer of a local assayer amidst suitors, friends, drunks and competition