About the Book
Book: The Silver
LodeAuthor: Suzanne J. Bratcher
Genre: Mystery
Release Date: 2020
JEROME, ARIZONA:
Billion-dollar copper camp alive with rags-to-riches tales
Beneath the ghost town that clings to the side of Cleopatra Hill, a maze of abandoned mine tunnels conceals a vein of silver ore mixed with pure gold. Seventy years ago, the discovery of that silver lode caused a murder. Are more coming?
Historian Paul Russell is about to lose his job and the woman he loves. He doesn’t have time to search for the legendary silver lode. But when a student drops a seventy-year-old unsolved cold case on his desk, a murder connected to the silver lode, the mystery offers Paul the perfect opportunity to work with Marty Greenlaw and win her back.
As Paul and Marty search for the silver lode, suspicious deaths begin to happen. When Paul’s son disappears, the stakes become personal.
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My Review
This
is an interesting novel that features both a slow romance and a youth
adventure. The potential romance is between older adults and is a
troubled one. Marty is a complex woman, loving Paul one moment,
afraid of the relationship the next. He is a patient man, putting up
with her on and off again attitude. He has his own issues in that he
doesn't want to write the book necessary to keep his professor
position. The youth adventure sees Paul's son looking for a lost
mine.
Bratcher
explores a serious side issue that involves parental abuse. Another
issue is a child who needs major heart surgery and the family does
not have the funds to cover it. A feature of this novel is the
location. We read some good descriptions of the area and get bits of
history too. We also learn some about antiques. Bratcher includes an
informative Note at the end as well as Discussion Questions.
This
is the second in a series. While it reads relatively well on its own,
reading the first novel will help understand the progressing
relationship between Marty and Paul.
My
rating: 4/5 stars.
About the Author
Suzanne J. Bratcher, Ph.D., delights in writing contemporary mysteries sprinkled with history. Her award-winning novels are set in the very real ghost town of Jerome, Arizona as well as the Four Corners states: New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah. Bratcher lives in Phoenix, Arizona. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading with her granddaughter, laughing at her rescue cat, and piecing colorful quilt scraps.
More from Suzanne
When readers ask me where I get my ideas, I sometimes wonder if they expect me to reveal a secret process for starting a book. I only wish I could. But far from proceeding along the steps of a process, each of my books begins with nothing more than a spark that catches my imagination like a match catches a piece of kindling. I pile ideas on the spark and when I have enough for a blaze, I start to write. The spark for The Silver Lode was a 3-D display of the myriad abandoned mining tunnels that crisscross the hill beneath the ghost town of Jerome, Arizona.
The idea for The Silver Lode came to me while I was still an English teacher. So, what was I doing studying a model of a long defunct copper mine when I should have been reading William Faulkner or e.e. cummings? The reality was-at the time, I had no idea I was studying a copper mine. I thought I was visiting an old house.
The first time I turned off Arizona Highway 89A to visit Jerome State Historic Park, I wanted to tour to the Douglas mansion, the park headquarters. I love old houses. I’ve visited Thomas Jefferson’s home, George Washington’s, numerous antebellum mansions scattered throughout the South, and the family homes of many famous American writers. The Douglas Mansion, then, was a natural stop. But besides old houses, I also love research-learning simply for the sake of learning. I don’t have to have a specific goal in mind to enjoy adding bits of information to my hodgepodge of knowledge.
So…as I strolled through the high-ceilinged rooms in the Douglas mansion, I found myself drawn into the history of copper mining in Jerome. In addition to the three-dimensional display of the mine tunnels, I saw shelves of rocks and minerals bathed in ultraviolet light, a wall of photographs of the Douglas family that included one of Winston Churchill’s sisters, and a video that told the story of the ghosts of Cleopatra Hill. My interest piqued, I plunged more deeply into research. I bought books and read firsthand accounts of life in the billion-dollar copper camp. I visited the Jerome Historical Society and read yellowing newspapers. I ventured into the Mining Museum and wandered through a reconstructed mineshaft. I searched the internet for information about mining in the late 1800s and early 1900s, whether for copper, silver, or gold.
By now I was actively working on a plot that would revolve around mining for silver in Jerome. Because The Silver Lode was the second book in my trilogy of Jerome mysteries, I already had the main characters for the story. In my head I could see Scott, a young teenager, exploring those interlocking tunnels under the town. But I didn’t know what he was looking for. I needed another spark to start that fire.
I ran across it quite accidentally as I was reading about a large deposit of silver mixed with gold discovered in Virginia City, Nevada in 1859. Dubbed a silver lode, it was one of the richest deposits of its kind ever discovered. Of course, the Comstock Lode had nothing to do with mining in Jerome between the two World Wars. Nor did the history of Nevada influence the history of Arizona in the 1920s. Still, as I read about a large deposit of silver mixed with gold called a silver lode, I knew I had found both the treasure and the title for the story I was working on.
The next big story question was “Who else is looking for the silver lode?” In other words, “Who is the villain?” It was clear I needed secondary characters to drive the search for my imaginary silver lode buried deep in Cleopatra Hill. These characters came from my research into the families who built the town of Jerome and spread down the hill to build Clarkdale. I had my ideas.
Now…back to the question my readers sometimes ask: where do I get the ideas for my mysteries? The answer is as simple as it is complicated: I get my ideas from research. As I write, I use these ideas as a springboard so that they appear in camouflage. When you read The Silver Lode, I hope you find these nuggets of fact buried deep in the imaginary story of the long ago murder of a college student’s grandfather, a contemporary search for a legendary silver lode, and a desperate rush to save a child’s life.
Blog Stops
Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 8
Simple Harvest Reads, January 9 (Author Interview)
Blogging With Carol , January 9
Bizwings Blog, January 10
Artistic Nobody, January 11 (Author Interview)
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 12
Guild Master, January 13 (Author Interview)
Lily’s Corner, January 14
Fiction Book Lover, January 15 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 16
A Reader’s Brain , January 17 (Author Interview)
Texas Book-aholic, January 18
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, January 19 (Author Interview)
Books Less Travelled, January 20 (Author Interview)
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 20
History, Hope & Happily Ever After, January 21 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate, a print copy of the book, and a bookmark!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/n6moC/the-silver-lode-celebration-tour-giveaway
I received a complimentary egalley of this book through Celebrate Lit. My comments are an independent review.
(My
star ratings: 5-I love it, 4-I like it, 3-It's OK, 2-I don't like it,
1-I hate it.)
About the Book:
