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The Miner’s Canary
Haunted by a death she might have prevented, single mom Julie Goldman returns to the brooding Black Hills of South Dakota to turn the old Victorian she inherits from her aunt into a bed-and-breakfast inn. But mysterious deaths are piling up, and a series of vaguely escalating threats convince her that someone wants her gone. When daughter Lu is run off the road while riding her bike, Julie knows she must find and stop whoever has them squarely in their sights.
326 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 25, 2022
37 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Pronin
10 books35 followersBarbara Pronin, whose work has been praised by best-selling authors Mary Higgins Clark and Tony Hillerman, and Faye Kellerman, s the author of eight mysteries, including three as Barbara Nickolae, and a WW II novel, Winter's End, which won the 2025 Gold Medal for Best Adult Novel (IPPY Award) from the Independent Publishers Book Awards. A former actress, probation officer, journalist and substitute teacher, she is a fan of dark chocolate, the Dodgers, Greek sunsets and African elephants. When she isn't writing, which isn't often, she can probably be found struggling painfully at the piano.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 24, 2023
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Julie Goldman takes a trip from where she is living in California to South Dakota to get her aunt’s affairs in order following her death. She had left there after her cousin was murdered several years ago and never returned. She was surprised to reconnect with some old friends and make some new ones. After the funeral, she returns to L.A. to find the hotel she worked at as an event planner had been sold and she was out of a job. With nothing to keep her there, she returns to Deadwood and decides to turn the Victorian home she grew up in and recently inherited into a bed and breakfast.
Strangely after her aunt’s death one of her high school friends died in a car accident. Then another woman she had met died in a freaky fall. She had also started receiving threats. The final straw was her daughter being run off the road while riding her bike. Something is amiss in Deadwood and she thinks it is connected to the murder of her cousin all those years ago. But starting her own investigation draws the attention of the killer. Can she stay alive long enough to get justice for her family and friends or will she be the killer’s next victim?
I escaped right into this story!
Julie Goldman, a widowed mother to daughter Lulu was a wonderful protagonist. She is strong, intelligent, inquisitive, and friendly with great organizational skills and a terrific mom to her daughter. Lulu is a mature 11-year-old who loves to ice skate with hopes to be an Olympian. Penny is their nanny and a great friend. She has graduated from law school and is trying to pass the California bar exam. While she is waiting for her latest test results she travels to Deadwood with Julia and Lulu. Julia meets or reconnects with several people in Deadwood. Chief of Police Banks goes above and beyond the norm to help Julie feel safe and welcome. There is a definite attraction there. Harrison Palmer was her aunt’s attorney and helps Julie with all the in and outs of her inheritance including a long-lost relative that falls out of the woodwork. I enjoyed the way all these core characters and others we meet have layers that get peeled back as the story continues.
Not everyone is happy that Julie has returned to Deadwood to stay. The type of threats she is receiving makes that point clearly known. It also has her thinking her aunt’s death may not have been from natural causes. But the threats don’t frighten her away, they make her more determined to stay and find the truth. The clues started to fall into place for me sooner than they did for Julie but let me tell you I was at 97% / Chapter Fifty-Six when I realized I was literally on the end of my seat. All of what I had been thinking was right and was playing out in a very scary way. I held my breath and was reading at breakneck speed. Ms. Pronin set up an ending that had my heart racing. I loved the epic twist.
My husband and I along with our infant son vacationed in South Dakota many years ago and it is a place we have always wanted to return. We even stayed overnight in Deadwood. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Seeing them through Lulu’s eyes brought me back to exactly how I felt when I saw them for the first time. It also made me even more anxious to plan a return. Sans the murders, of course.
The Miner’s Canary is a suspenseful mystery with a slow build to a heck of a crescendo. It was truly impossible to put down and has stuck with me since I turned the final page. I have to put it on my Best Reads of 2023 list. This story is a must-read! I am not sure if the author has planned a sequel but these are characters I would gladly visit again.
Julie Goldman takes a trip from where she is living in California to South Dakota to get her aunt’s affairs in order following her death. She had left there after her cousin was murdered several years ago and never returned. She was surprised to reconnect with some old friends and make some new ones. After the funeral, she returns to L.A. to find the hotel she worked at as an event planner had been sold and she was out of a job. With nothing to keep her there, she returns to Deadwood and decides to turn the Victorian home she grew up in and recently inherited into a bed and breakfast.
Strangely after her aunt’s death one of her high school friends died in a car accident. Then another woman she had met died in a freaky fall. She had also started receiving threats. The final straw was her daughter being run off the road while riding her bike. Something is amiss in Deadwood and she thinks it is connected to the murder of her cousin all those years ago. But starting her own investigation draws the attention of the killer. Can she stay alive long enough to get justice for her family and friends or will she be the killer’s next victim?
I escaped right into this story!
Julie Goldman, a widowed mother to daughter Lulu was a wonderful protagonist. She is strong, intelligent, inquisitive, and friendly with great organizational skills and a terrific mom to her daughter. Lulu is a mature 11-year-old who loves to ice skate with hopes to be an Olympian. Penny is their nanny and a great friend. She has graduated from law school and is trying to pass the California bar exam. While she is waiting for her latest test results she travels to Deadwood with Julia and Lulu. Julia meets or reconnects with several people in Deadwood. Chief of Police Banks goes above and beyond the norm to help Julie feel safe and welcome. There is a definite attraction there. Harrison Palmer was her aunt’s attorney and helps Julie with all the in and outs of her inheritance including a long-lost relative that falls out of the woodwork. I enjoyed the way all these core characters and others we meet have layers that get peeled back as the story continues.
Not everyone is happy that Julie has returned to Deadwood to stay. The type of threats she is receiving makes that point clearly known. It also has her thinking her aunt’s death may not have been from natural causes. But the threats don’t frighten her away, they make her more determined to stay and find the truth. The clues started to fall into place for me sooner than they did for Julie but let me tell you I was at 97% / Chapter Fifty-Six when I realized I was literally on the end of my seat. All of what I had been thinking was right and was playing out in a very scary way. I held my breath and was reading at breakneck speed. Ms. Pronin set up an ending that had my heart racing. I loved the epic twist.
My husband and I along with our infant son vacationed in South Dakota many years ago and it is a place we have always wanted to return. We even stayed overnight in Deadwood. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore. Seeing them through Lulu’s eyes brought me back to exactly how I felt when I saw them for the first time. It also made me even more anxious to plan a return. Sans the murders, of course.
The Miner’s Canary is a suspenseful mystery with a slow build to a heck of a crescendo. It was truly impossible to put down and has stuck with me since I turned the final page. I have to put it on my Best Reads of 2023 list. This story is a must-read! I am not sure if the author has planned a sequel but these are characters I would gladly visit again.
October 25, 2022
The Miner’s Canary by Barbara Pronin was one book I read this year that grabbed me from the beginning and didn’t let me go until the very end! It has some twists and turns I didn’t expect. I am so pleased that I was approached to read and review an early copy of this book. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it won’t be my last!
I have to admit I read the synopsis when Ms. Pronin first offered her new book to me to read but I forgot what the book was about when I picked it up. I went in cold. I’m so glad I did. The surprises along the way were a delight. I didn’t remember that it was a mystery. I thought it was a cute story about a woman that inherited her Aunt’s home. I was so mistaken.
The characters in this book are lovable and believable. I liked Julie, who is the main character. She is the widowed mother of a young girl. The town the Aunt lived in is Deadwood, South Dakota and the Police Chief is Charlie. Julie has every intention of selling the house and going back to California. In the short time she is in Deadwood, she meets people she considers her friends. It becomes obvious she has more friends there than she has back home. She moves with her daughter and the young woman who does child care for her back to Deadwood.
There are questions she has about the sudden death of her Aunt and things begin to happen to her and her daughter that makes her think someone in Deadwood doesn’t want her there. Problem is there are at least three people she can think of that would like her to leave. She decides they are not going to drive her out. She stays and fights back! Good for you, Julie!
This book literally had me sitting on the edge of my chair. I couldn’t put it down. I spent every spare minute I had in two days to finish The Miner’s Canary. If you love a book filled with mystery and suspense, then this book is for you! I loved it. I’m sure you will too. If you read this book, let me know what you think. Until next time…Happy Reading!
Don’t forget to support the authors you read by leaving a review!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I have to admit I read the synopsis when Ms. Pronin first offered her new book to me to read but I forgot what the book was about when I picked it up. I went in cold. I’m so glad I did. The surprises along the way were a delight. I didn’t remember that it was a mystery. I thought it was a cute story about a woman that inherited her Aunt’s home. I was so mistaken.
The characters in this book are lovable and believable. I liked Julie, who is the main character. She is the widowed mother of a young girl. The town the Aunt lived in is Deadwood, South Dakota and the Police Chief is Charlie. Julie has every intention of selling the house and going back to California. In the short time she is in Deadwood, she meets people she considers her friends. It becomes obvious she has more friends there than she has back home. She moves with her daughter and the young woman who does child care for her back to Deadwood.
There are questions she has about the sudden death of her Aunt and things begin to happen to her and her daughter that makes her think someone in Deadwood doesn’t want her there. Problem is there are at least three people she can think of that would like her to leave. She decides they are not going to drive her out. She stays and fights back! Good for you, Julie!
This book literally had me sitting on the edge of my chair. I couldn’t put it down. I spent every spare minute I had in two days to finish The Miner’s Canary. If you love a book filled with mystery and suspense, then this book is for you! I loved it. I’m sure you will too. If you read this book, let me know what you think. Until next time…Happy Reading!
Don’t forget to support the authors you read by leaving a review!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
March 12, 2024
A fun read! This murder mystery novel embraces the small mountain town setting and achieves a delicate balance between cozy and curious
March 11, 2023
Barbara Pronin knows how to create suspense. She does it well in this story, following a young single mother scrapping a life as an event planner in Southern California all the way to the Black Hills of South Dakota. Julie Goldman lived there as an orphaned child and doesn't have good memories of that time. She's haunted by the unsolved death of Kate, the older cousin she grew fond of. But now Kate's mother, her aunt Sarah, has died too, leaving her huge Victorian house to Julie. A 'quick trip' to settle the inheritance matters is in order. But Julie's intention will transform into the longing for a different life when her daughter Lu starts loving the place and a hint at romance spikes buried desires. Unfortunately, the idyllic picture doesn't hold on when mysterious deaths started piling up, convincing Julie that someone must want her gone.
December 2, 2022
When hotel event planner, Julie Goldman, gets the news that upon her death, her estranged aunt has left her a small fortune, as well as a massive house, Julie has little choice but to return to the small South Dakota town where she grew up to settle her business. It’s a place she’s avoided since the murder of her cousin all those years ago. But now that Julie is back, strange deaths start happening again… This time Julie has her own daughter with her, and the decision to stay in her home town, which seemed like a good choice at first is starting to feel like a very dangerous mistake…
A mysterious story that grabs you right from the beginning, with characters you’ll love—and others you won’t!—and keeps you guessing until the last page.
Couldn’t put it down!
A mysterious story that grabs you right from the beginning, with characters you’ll love—and others you won’t!—and keeps you guessing until the last page.
Couldn’t put it down!
September 15, 2022
When Julie Goldman, a single mom, returns to the South Dakota Mountain area to settle her late aunt's estate, she finds a strange attachment to the land she had once vowed never to return to. Haunted by the still unsolved murder of her cousin years earlier and convinced she would never be able to come home, Goldman and her daughter are overwhelmed by the small-town hospitality and decide to relocate and move into her aunt's home. But all is not as it seems. Goldman soon finds the secrets behind those smiling faces may not all be so innocent. A slow burn but smartly written.
March 18, 2023
I really enjoyed this first in the series. This grabbed me from the start, and kept a steady pace. The setting sounds beautiful and I would love to go visit there myself. The characters are real and likable. I found the mystery interesting with how a past murder ties in with what happens in Julie's life when she comes back home to settle her aunt's estate. The mystery was excellent and kept me guessing. I will continue on with this series.
November 23, 2022
Wonderful mystery that kept me guessing until the end. And I also enjoyed all the info about Deadwood and surrounding areas.
December 15, 2022
Barbara Pronin has written another winning novel. Engaging and suspenseful… lots of twists and turns leaving you wondering throughout the novel.
Book #150 for 2022
Book #150 for 2022
January 5, 2023
The Miner's Canary is a fun read whose identifiable protagonist struggles to unravel a mystery in the present that takes her back to her past and keeps the reader guessing until (nearly) the end.
February 27, 2024
Nice little mystery! Kept you guessing until the last 5 pages. I figured out who-done-it but not sure why they did lol
February 21, 2024
Story is good. The author is very readable and not annoyingly over-stylized as many authors are. I appreciated a book finally without profanity or blasphemy. Hard to find that these days. The plot was easily figured out from almost the beginning--or even just the title--but still a good read, which I was able to finish in one night. The only thing that bothered me was that my copy of the book had obvious missed and big editing blunders. Phrases that were struck through were left in. Some sentences were repeated one right after the other. I understand from other readers, though, that not every copy has these. I got my copy from Amazon.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews