Solomon Spring [Hardcover]

Michelle Black (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 21, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

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'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; 1st edition (September 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765304651
• ISBN-13: 978-0765304650
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,077,239 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michelle Black is the author of six historical novels, including the bestselling AN UNCOMMON ENEMY. Her latest novel of historical suspense, SEANCE IN SEPIA, features real life feminist firebrand Victoria Woodhull as its protagonist.

Michelle lives in a Queen Anne Victorian home just outside Boulder, Colorado. In addition to writing, she has been known to practice law, own a bookstore, and snowboard. She can often be found where ever Steampunks gather and her motto is: "Have bustle, will travel."

Michelle loves to hear from readers. They can contact her through her website: www.michelleblack.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great work of historical fiction, September 12, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solomon Spring (Hardcover)

In 1879, Brad Randall, the Commissioner for Indian Affairs feels ineffectual in his post because he knows how the Indians are being treated and is in no position to help them. When he finds out his wife is cheating on him with his assistant, he leaves her and journeys out west, hoping to help the Native-Americans. He also wants to find Eden Murdoch who he has not seen or heard from in ten years to tell her the son she thought died is very much alive.

When the two ex-lovers meet, Eden is in jail protecting the fact that the Indians are no longer allowed near Solomon Spring, a sacred site to many tribes. He gets her out of jail and takes her to see her son who is not pleased to see her because her husband, Lawrence Murdoch has found him first and fed him lies about her. When Lawrence is found dead, Brad confesses to his murder but the only one who doesn't believe him is Eden who intends to find the real killer before her lover hangs.

SOLOMON SPRING is a great work of historical fiction and an equally good historical mystery. Through the characters eyes we are able to see the plight of the Indians and their courage in the face of adversity. The romance between the two protagonists is quite good but takes a back seat to the who-done it. Michelle Black is a talented writer who will appeal to readers of mystery, romance and history.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Western United States - 1878, July 14, 2009

By 

Lyn Reese (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Solomon Spring (Mass Market Paperback)

Twice married Eden Murdoch links up with a long lost ex-lover, Brad Randall, in their mutual concern over the plight of the Northern Cheyenne. Solomon Spring is an ancient spiritual Native American pilgrimage site; Eden's attachment to it stems from her years among the Cheyenne as wife of its medicine man, Hanging Road. Eden, however, has a knack for making enemies, and soon both she and Brad are accused of a crime neither committed.

This is an excellent way to learn about the Northern Cheyennes' relocation to the Indian Territory, and their failed attempt to return to their northern homelands. Also well portrayed is the hard scrabble life on Kansas' windy winter prairie, the rough-and-ready frontier justice, and society's disapprobation toward a woman like Eden who does not follow the accepted norms for white women of her class.

If there is a fault, it is the story's unrelenting series of disasters. As soon as Eden overcomes one hurtle, another immediately follows. This reviewer leans toward slower paced plots which allow for a truer sense of time and place. That said, this second book featuring Eden Murdoch gives us complex characters who live adventuresome lives in the turbulent Victorian American West. It is the second in the Eden Murdoch series.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovable heroes, despicable villians, interesting times..., March 24, 2003

By 

Winfield Scott "winfieldscott" (Fort Scott, KS United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Solomon Spring (Hardcover)

This was my first exposure to a book by this author, and I was very pleased. The story covers a period of time interesting to me and in an area near my home. The heroes are good people with normal character flaws, and the villians are the kind of people you can easily hate. The story is tied in to real times and real events. The author is obviously very familiar with the Cheyenne Indians and the frontier during the latter 1800's. A spellbinding book.