Erin Lindsey (Murder on Millionaires' Row; A Golden Grave) seamlessly blends historical fiction and paranormal mystery in her charming Rose Gallagher series. Rose, formerly a maid to the very proper Mr. Thomas Wiltshire, is now his investigative partner. What no one knows is that Rose and Thomas work for a secret branch of the Pinkerton Agency, tracking paranormal activities.
As The Silver Shooter begins, Theodore Roosevelt asks Rose and Thomas to head out west to Dakota Territory to research his massive cattle losses and find out about the death of one of his acquaintances. Bad weather can't explain all of the cattle deaths, and rumor has it that a mysterious violent creature has been mangling the bodies of cattle and humans alike. Off to investigate the purported monster and to see if Roosevelt's friend is truly haunting a local hotel now, Rose and Thomas find that indeed things are not as they seem in Dakota Territory. Tensions are high as local ranchers blame the Lakota, but the Lakota insist that a malevolent presence has been at work. It will take all of the Pinkertons' tenacity and ingenuity to stop the terrible creature and protect the innocent from being blamed.
Well researched and quickly paced, The Silver Shooter is a lovely historical mystery with a magical flair. Fans of Jacqueline Winspear and Rhys Bowen will appreciate Rose's clever prowess, and lovers of paranormal mysteries will enjoy the way that Lindsey weaves rumors of ghosts, the fae and other magical beings into the historical backdrop of the rough and tumble Dakota territory. --Jessica Howard, bookseller at Bookmans, Tucson, Ariz.