The Secret in the Wall by Ann Parker

The Secret in the Wall (Silver Rush Mystery)

by Ann Parker

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.
She enlists the help of Walter de Brujin, a local private investigator with whom she shares some history. Though she wants to trust him, she fears that his knowledge of her past, along with her growing attraction to him, may well blow her veneer of respectability to bits—that is, if her dogged pursuit of the truth doesn't kill her first

Reviewed by annieb123 on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Secret in the Wall is the 8th Silver Rush cozy mystery by Ann Parker. Released 15th Feb 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press, it's 400 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a solidly plotted, character driven historical cozy set in San Francisco in the late 19th century. Main protagonist Inez Stannart is a financial partner in a boarding house venture when renovations on the house uncover a skeleton and a fortune in gold coins hidden in a wall. There are soon murders, mistaken identities, betrayals, theft, spies, and more skullduggery piling on top of the mysterious skeleton in the wall. The buildup and resolution/denouement were a bit more sombre than is usual for cozy mysteries, but still well done and satisfying.

There is no very explicit on page content. The language is slightly salty, especially for the time period and the fact that this is a historical cozy. One of the murders is quite gory, but the violence occurs off-page and is not written objectionably. Despite being the 8th book in the series, it works perfectly well as a standalone self-contained mystery. The author is adept at giving necessary back-story without info dumping or spoon feeding readers.

Four stars. Engaging and worth a look for fans of historical cozies.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 27 February, 2022: Finished reading
  • 27 February, 2022: Reviewed