Review – The Secret in the Wall by Ann Parker

From the publisher of The Secret in the Wall

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

My review

Written from multiple points of view, The Secret in the Wall is a top-notch historical cozy mystery. The author balanced those points of view so that they made sense and always furthered the plot line. Parker has an excellent grasp of her characters and writes each with their own distinct voice that clearly defines them. 

I loved the historical references and the backstory about the US Mint in San Francisco and Alcatraz Island. Those details blended in perfectly and added the ambience needed to immerse the reader in the story. And the story, that moved steadily forward at a deliberate pace that built suspense as it progressed. Even what appeared to be a side story about the protagonist’s ward and a new friend was woven into the main story seamlessly until the two plots converged in a tension-packed finale. Terribly fun reading, especially if you love historical fiction.

FTC Full Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by its publisher.

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