Solomon Spring

ISBN: 0765304651

Author: Black, Michelle

Condition: Used

Product Description Kansas, 1878: A natural wonder, sacred for centuries, is about to be profaned--but not if Eden Murdoch can prevent it. She has returned to the mystical Solomon Spring to seek solace after the death of her Cheyenne husband. She longs to make a fresh start for the sake of her nine-year-old daughter but a quiet life does not come naturally to a headstrong woman like Eden.When the owner of the Solomon Spring Company decides to bottle its mystical waters, build a health spa, and bar Indians from making pilgrimages to the spring, Eden decides she must stop this travesty. Inspired by Thoreau's essays on civil disobedience, she enjoys some early success, but makes deadly enemies in the process.Her past races to catch up to her: Brad Randall, Eden's one-time lover, is determined to find her again. He brings the astounding news that the son Eden lost as an infant fourteen years before has been located and is living nearby. The joy of her reunion with Brad and with her son is clouded by the reappearance of Lawrence Murdoch, Eden's long-estranged first husband. The warring couple plunges into a vicious custody battle. When Murdoch is found shot to death in an alley, Brad is tried and sentenced to hang.To save him, Eden must discover the solution to the murder, and bring the real killer to justice at the edge of Solomon Spring. From Publishers Weekly Credible and engaging characters, particularly the fearless and feisty heroine, Eden Murdoch, together with a well-paced, suspenseful plot, make for a fine historical adventure yarn in this sequel to Black's An Uncommon Enemy (2001). In Kansas in 1878, the Cheyenne are facing starvation since the Bureau of Indian Affairs has failed to send them the food the government promised. When Eden's true love, Brad Randall, who's the Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, can't persuade his superiors to take action because of budget cuts, he decides to go West to see the situation for himself. Ironically, Eden, who hasn't seen Brad in years, heads for Washington to get his help to prevent a dastardly land developer from desecrating the Cheyenne's sacred spring, famous for its healing properties, by bottling the water and selling it. Eventually, their paths cross, but Eden runs into a major distraction-she learns that the infant son she presumed died years before in a Cheyenne raid on a wagon train has survived, raised by a local family. His late stepparents have left him a legacy, which her predatory ex-husband, Lawrence Murdoch, wants for himself. When Lawrence turns up in an alley with a bullet in the back of his head, Brad stands accused of his murder. Some mystery fans may be disappointed that the murder plot occupies only the book's last third, but other readers won't mind, finding too much else to enjoy.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist In 1878, Commissioner of Indian Affairs Brad Randall heads west to reunite his former lover Eden Murdoch with her long-lost son. Captured by the Cheyenne while fleeing from her abusive husband, Eden has been rescued but remains sympathetic to her former tribe, whose ways she has come to respect. When the owner of Solomon Spring, sacred to the local Indians, decides to build an exclusive spa on the site, Eden creates powerful enemies when she fights to protect the spring. After an altercation with her former husband, she and Brad become the chief suspects when he is murdered. When Brad is sentenced to hang for the crime, Eden fights to save him. Eden is an unconventional, independent, principled heroine, and Brad is a compassionate man who takes his work seriously. The strong characters, the love between the two leads, the vivid details of life in the West in the late 1800s, and an engaging plot combine to make this an absorbing historical mystery.Sue O'BrienCopyright American Library Association. All rights reserved About the Author Michelle Black has wri