The Silver Shadow

Title: The Silver Shadow

Series: True Colors #11

Author: Liz Tolsma

Publisher: Barbour Publishing

Genre: Historical Fiction, True Crime, Christian Fiction, Mystery

Source: Own

My Review:

While The Silver Shadow by Liz Tolsma is part of the multi-author series True Colors, it is a standalone novel.

The True Colors series focuses on historical stories of American crime. The Silver Shadow takes place in Denver, Colorado. It is loosely based on a series of crimes by the Capitol Hill Thug between 1900 and 1901.

Man, it was hard being a woman in the early 1900s! Polly Blythe can testify to that. She wants to be a serious reporter, not just known for her social columns. But, she is working in a man's world, with men who have no respect for women and think they should be home taking care of their families.

Edwin is outraged by the crimes against women happening in his town. What's worse is that the criminal strikes too close to home. Unfortunately, no one else at the police station seems overly concerned; there are more political matters they are focused on.

This was a fascinating story of a man thinking he is doing right by putting women in their place. He doesn't understand why the women won't just stay home at night, where they belong. Yes, we get the killer's perspective, but it was impossible to figure out who he was. I thought I knew for quite a while, but I was wrong.

There is so much tragedy in this story, but the story is gripping. The motivations for each character and why they do what they do are slowly revealed, giving the story layers of depth. 

Content notes: physical violence against women, not overly detailed and not gory at all, no sexual assault, some deaths occur

★★★★/5

Synopsis (Goodreads):  

A Shadowy Figure Is Intent on Harming Denver’s Women
Step into True Colors -- a new series of Historical Stories of Romance and American Crime

Denver of 1900 is still a dangerous place to be following the silver crash of 1893. And of out of the dark comes a shadow intent on harming women. Ambitious young Denver newspaper reporter Polly Blythe is searching for the big story that’s going to launch her career. On Friday evening, August 24, 1900, she gets her break when two women are cracked over the head within a two-minute walk of each other. But policeman Edwin Timmer thwarts Polly’s ideas of a serial criminal. . .until the shadowy figure strikes again. Will the reporter and the policeman team up to find the culprit before her strikes too close for comfort?