About the Book

Book: The Silver Lode

Author: 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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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.

Author Interview

Can you tell us a little bit about what readers can expect from your books?

First, I need to let readers know my stories are not cozy mysteries, nor are they violent, hard boiled stories. Instead, they are adventure stories that include characters from young teenagers to mature adults and even a senior adult or two. The writing is tight, and the pace is relatively fast. Readers must pay attention because I do my best to play fair with the mystery by sprinkling clues throughout. But I also try to hide the clues enough to make the ending is a bit of a surprise.

What is the greatest advice you have ever been given about writing?

The advice that has changed my writing the most came from a little book by James Scott Bell called "Write from the Middle.” In this book, Bell recommends finding the place in the story where your character faces himself or herself and the predicament he or she is in. Bell shows from film and literature how this moment comes almost exactly in the middle of the story. He recommends writing that scene first so you know what must come before and what must come after. That advice has helped me understand the interaction between plot and character better than I ever have before.

Can you share 5 random facts about the book?

• “The Silver Lode” can stand alone as a single novel.

• It can also be read as a sequel to "The Copper Box”

• Although miners in Jerome never discovered a silver lode, the geology of Cleopatra Hill is right for the formation of a silver deposit mixed with gold.

• The information about the Chinese restaurants in early Jerome came from advertisements in the original Jerome newspaper.

• The routes of the roads around Jerome are accurate.

What was the inspiration behind it?

I was visiting the Douglas mansion, the house the owner of the biggest copper mine in Jerome built for his family. I was interested in the high ceilinged rooms and the bits of furniture that have been salvaged from the old home. I was strolling through the last room when a 3-D map of the main tunnels that crisscross the hill beneath Jerome caught my attention. I was amazed that enough of the hill was left to hold up the town. As I stood there, I imagined myself exploring those tunnels, and after a moment, I realized Scott Russell (a young teenager from the first Jerome mystery) was just ahead of me in the tunnel. I wondered what he was searching for. At that moment, I had the beginnings of this novel. It took me a few weeks to discover what Scott was looking for, but I already had the outline of the plot and the main character. I was off and running--ready to delve into the research.

What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

First, of course, I hope they will take away the satisfaction of having read a fun story. But, more importantly, I hope they will take away a picture of how God can take the imperfect people we are and re-shape our disappointments into a new and fulfilling life, different from what we imagined for ourselves.

Before you go, where can readers keep up with what's next?

The best way for readers to keep up with me and my writing is by reading my quarterly email newsletter. Anyone who's interested can sign up for the newsletter on my website at www.suzannebratcher.com.