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OLD SILVERBY Carl BrookinsTRADE PAPERBACK, $14.95 ISBN 1-929976-32-1 Top Publications, Ltd. The third in the Tanner/Whitney adventure mystery series
"There’s nothing tarnished about Old Silver. Dark secrets raised from the deep and masterful sailing scenes sweep this suspenseful yarn along faster than an Alberta Clipper. Another superior mystery from Carl Brookins. Don’t miss it!" Kent Krueger, author of MERCY FALLS." "In OLD SILVER, Carl Brookins deftly mixes mystery, dark history, and political intrigue with shipwrecks, wild storms, sailing and scuba diving. His charming and feisty sleuths--Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney--follow in the tradition of Nick and Nora Charles." Mary Logue, author of BONE HARVES "The lure of sunken treasure, the treachery of secret societies and the greed of corrupt families. If you crave excitement, adventure and a murder or two, get on the boat with Carl Brookins. Old Silver takes you places you never thought you'd go!" Don Bruns, author of JAMAICA BLUE and BARBADOS HEAT "A hundred year old letter and a brass plate from a ship called the Amador send Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney racing on a journey packed with suspense and excitement to investigate an old crime and several brand new ones." Sally Fellowes, mystery reviewer REVIEWS "Brookins has a flair for taking readers into the thick of
things. The old deceptions, bad blood, and fresh wounds of "Old Silver" make
for an outstanding romp of an adventure. The unique story blends well with the
dark intrigue and lets the reader experience the best of both. Who
doesn't wonder at the thought of lost treasure and dream of one day
finding it? Exceptional characters pull you along through the story, right
to the very end!" Friday, July 28, 2006 Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney return in this top flight cozy
mystery set for most part on the waters of Lake
Superior. It is there that while sailing
with friends Mary Whitney during a snorkeling trip finds and brings to
the surface an old metal plate, probably from the
boiler, stamped with the word "Amador" on it. Little
does she know that it comes from a ship that sank
during a storm in 1905 and theoretically went down somewhere off Sand
Island which is nowhere near where she has recovered
the plate. Dusty Bookshelf Books and Bytes - Woodstock - RAM In the early 20th century, a ship carrying commercial freight across Lake Superior is lost in a storm with no survivors and no recovery of her cargo. Nearly 100 years later, a cataloguer at a Chicago historical library discovers some personal correspondence among commercial records and documents. Several hundred miles away, Michael Tanner and his wife Mary Whitney are enjoying a scuba diving vacation along the coast of Lake Superior. One afternoon Mary surfaces with a brass plate in her hands - clearly an artifact from one of the many Great Lakes shipwrecks. Before they leave the area, Michael and Mary leave the item with the National Park Service office in the area as required by Park Service rules, but Mary's curiosity is aroused and she begins to research the history of the ship named on the the brass plate. In fairly short sequence, the cataloguer is found dead in her apartment, the brass plate disappears from the Park Service office, and the short term rental where Michael and Mary are staying in the Twin Cities is trashed and the results of Mary's research is stolen. When they return to Lake Superior to investigate the connections between these events, Michael is forced off the road and left for dead in a frightening encounter with a semi tractor trailer. Carl Brookins weaves all these elements together in an intriguing mystery - and an atmospheric trip through some of the most interesting parts of the Great Lakes region. Wealthy families, long buried secrets, jealousies and ambitions provide the eventual solution. Reviewed by Eden Embler, May 2005 While snorkeling in Lake Superior on her vacation, Mary Whitney discovers a scrap of metal from a boat that had sunk nearly one hundred years previously. Intrigued by her find, Mary does some research to find out more about the boat, its owners and the circumstances of the sinking. She soon discovers that the boat, the Amador, which sank without a trace, and the ruins of which never were recovered, was owned by the DeVole Shipping Company, one of its fleet of Great Lake cargo boats. Shortly thereafter her husband, Michael Tanner, reads about the murder of a cataloguer at the Minnesota Historical Society. Mary, who is doing her research there, soon finds out that the murdered woman had just starting to work on a recent donation of business documents from the DeVole Corporation. Her curiosity whetted by this, Mary is determined to dig even deeper. This determination increases when the apartment she is leasing temporarily is trashed and her file on the Amador is taken. Obviously the one hundred year old disappearance has modern significance. Further happenings make things more perilous , but Mary and Michael refuse to back off until the modern villains are uncovered and brought to justice. This is a book that had one of the must unusual plots I've ever encountered, with lots of twists and turns to keep it interesting and to keep me reading happily along. The bad guys are frighteningly efficient and suitably callous. The book is extremely well written with excellent descriptions, and obvious first hand knowledge of sailing, while the characters are beautifully portrayed. RECOMMENDED.
Roseville Review ‘Old Silver’ brimming with Lake Superior Intrigue by Pamela O’Meara Mary Whitney and Michael Tanner are caught up in something they don’t understand. An archivist at the historical society is murdered and their own apartment is ransacked shortly after they find a brass plate from the Amador, a ship that sank in Lake Superior in 1905. Tanner and Whitney, recently married, are the main characters in "Old Silver," a mystery novel written by Carl Brookins of Roseville. Tanner heads a public relations firm while Whitney directs a family foundation. They are on a 10-day sailing trip out of Bayfield, Wis., when Whitney sees something shiny, dives down and discovers the brass plate. Coincidentally, they discover the archivist had been sorting through newly received files of the Amador’s owner and learn of the attempts, years ago, to locate the ship Soon after, Tanner is run off the road and left for dead. Brookins writs, "Tanner felt the surge from the big diesel as the other driver jammed the throttle home...There was a rising scream of tortured metal and that peculiar cracking, snapping sound made by splintering fiberglass. ...The car started to roll faster and faster down the hill. ...There was no way to tell how long he had been unconscious. ...He knew he had to get free of his iron prison before it was barbecue time." Badly bruised and angry, Tanner wants to get to the root of the violence. He and Whitney take time off work to talk to police and members of the two old, established families whose ancestors were rumored to have been involved in a secret shipment from Chicago to Duluth when the Amador sank. The couple hires a diving company in Bayfield, hoping to find the remains of the Amador. Amateur detectives, Whitney and Tanner commit no violent acts themselves. They are equal partners, curious and interested in new experiences. They take time to enjoy sailing and fine dining. Some days they head off in different directions, even different cities such as Chicago and the Twin Cities, meeting back over dinner to compare notes. Whitney charts the family trees. As more suspicious events occur, they fit the pieces together and discover the perpetrators. "‘Old Silver’ explores unintended consequences,"Brookins says. "We are all victims of bias. We expect people to act in certain ways based on our experiences and our social environment. Criminals with unworthy and dangerous motives assume others have similar motives, whether that’s true or not. Had the criminals in my story ignored Tanner and Mary, the disasters that are visited upon them would not have happened. But, having said that, at its foundation, ‘Old Silver’ is, I hope, a good story about some interesting folks. It’s fiction, a novel, meant to entertain readers."
Beverly J. Rowe, MyShelf.com Michael Tanner and Mary Whitney are vacationing in Lake Superior in Northern Wisconsin, when Mary surfaces from a dive with a brass plate from a ship called the Amador. This artifact from the 100 year old shipwreck whets their appetite for more. They get more than they bargained for in dark secrets and danger. An employee of the Minnesota Historical Society, Ethel Jandrice is murdered
after she filches an ancient letter about the cargo of the Amador to show her boyfriend,
who is a descendent of the ship's owners. Michael and Mary are sure that the two events
are related, and take off on a journey packed with suspense and excitement to investigate
Ethel's murder. They discover that Ethel's boyfriend, Tommy Callender has also been
murdered. They uncover old crimes and stumble upon new crimes, and meet and match wits
with intriguing members of the Mayhew and deVole families. Michael narrowly escapes with
his life when a semi-tractor knocks him off the road. Was it intentional? Was it connected
to their investigation of the Amador?
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