The Stolen Gold Affair

November 1, 2019

In this eighth title in the "Carpenter & Quincannon" historical mystery series from MWA Grand Master Pronzini, set in the late 1800s, John Quincannon is working undercover as a miner to discover who's stealing gold from a Mother Lode mine. Meanwhile, fiancée Sabrina Carpenter scrutinizes a real-estate scam while planning their wedding.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 24, 2020
Set in 1898, MWA Grand Master Pronzini’s delightful eighth Carpenter and Quincannon mystery (after 2019’s The Flimflam Affair) opens with a meeting at an exclusive San Francisco club between private detective John Quincannon and Everett Hoxley, “the head of a large corporation that owned several gold and silver mines in northern California and Nevada.” Hoxley hires Quincannon to go undercover as a miner in one of his mines in order to discover who has been stealing significant amounts of ore and gold dust. Meanwhile, shop assistant Gretchen Kantor tells Sabina Carpenter, Quincannon’s detective partner, about a possible break-in at the home of her friend Vernon Purifoy. Soon an incensed Purifoy shows up demanding that Carpenter stay out of his affairs. “In her experience that sort of heavy-handed protest meant the individual had something to hide,” so she pursues some undercover work of her own. Attractive characters, a finely tuned plot, and fascinating snippets of California history distinguish this outing. Who could ask for more? Agent: Dominick Abel, Dominick Abel Literary.