They all came to Leadville with the same purpose: Get in. Get rich. Get out.

As 1879 draws to a close, this Rocky Mountain boomtown has infected the world with silver fever. Unfortunately for Joe Rose, a precious-metalos assayer, death stakes its own claim. Joe's body is found trampled into the muck behind Inez Stannert's saloon. Most townsfolk, including Inez's business partner, Abe Jackson, dismiss Joe's death as an accident. Death, after all, is no stranger in Leadville. But Inez wonders when she finds something curious in Joe's pocket. Settling Joe's affairs for his widow, Inez finds lies and secrets run deep in Colorado. But, then again, maybe Joe's murder was purely personal...

This critically-acclaimed novel won the Willa Award for Best Historical Fiction and the Colorado Gold Award for Best Mystery,
and was a finalist for the Bruce Alexander Mystery Award and for the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West. It was also named one of the ten best mysteries of  2003 by Publishers Weekly and the Chicago Tribune.