The townspeople of Willster are shocked when their mayor is murdered. When the suspected killer is arrested, he tries to hire his Gen Z niece, Denise, as his defense investigator. But Denise has her own problems. Her cheating ex-boyfriend terminated her law internship, causing her to drop out of law school. Despondent, Denise drives to Willster to see her eccentric grandmother. Grandma convinces Denise to use her clever law school skills to investigate her uncle's murder case. A second story unfolds during the 1849 Gold Rush. Padre Felix, a young Catholic Priest, chances upon two murdered men and their secret that puts his life in jeopardy. To keep from being killed and to prevent the destruction of the Catholic Mission, the padre devises a scheme to keep the secret hidden until law and order comes to California. Back in the present day, suspects are plentiful, but Denise’s investigation takes a twist when someone illegally digs up Padre Felix’s grave. Denise deciphers a cryptic message carved into the gravestone that leads her on a trail of clues planted by the padre. After someone tries to kill her, it validates her suspicion that the padre’s secret is the motive for the mayor’s murder.

Zo Jones is enjoying the sunny season at her Happy Camper gift shop in Spirit Canyon, South Dakota—when a murder reminds her all that glitters isn’t gold . . . The South Dakota Gold Rush might be long over, but Zo Jones feels like she’s hit the mother lode when she and her friends browse an estate sale, where a rare old book about the history of Spirit Canyon is causing quite a commotion. In addition to local stories and secrets, the book may even contain the location of a famous stash of gold—a treasure worth killing for. Zo’s friend Maynard Cline wins the bid on the book, to the chagrin of many interested parties, including the historical society and college history department. But when Zo and Hattie head to Maynard’s mansion to borrow the book for a library event, the only thing they find is Maynard—at the bottom of the mountain. The valuable book is gone. Zo knows this must be murder because there’s no way a germophobe like Maynard would have voluntarily dived into a pile of dirt. Now she’ll have to dig into a new case, and go prospecting for a perpetrator . . .

Jack London's collection of short stories, titled 'Jack London's Short Stories: 184 Tales of the Gold Rush, Frozen North, South Seas & Wildlife Adventures (Illustrated)', provides readers with a diverse range of gripping narratives set in various landscapes. London's literary style is characterized by vivid descriptions and a focus on raw human emotion amidst the harsh realities of survival. Each story immerses the reader in the rugged environments of the Gold Rush era, the frozen landscapes of the North, the exotic South Seas, and thrilling wildlife adventures. London's ability to capture the essence of each setting makes these tales captivating and thought-provoking. As a major figure in American literature, London's works often explore themes of nature, survival, and the human spirit, making his short stories both entertaining and profound. His own experiences as an adventurer and a traveler greatly influenced his writing, allowing him to create authentic and engaging stories that resonate with readers. I highly recommend 'Jack London's Short Stories' to anyone who enjoys adventure, nature, and compelling storytelling, as each tale offers not only entertainment but also valuable insights into the human experience.

Winner of the Bancroft Prize The world of the California Gold Rush that comes down to us through fiction and film is one of half-truths. In this brilliant work of social history, Susan Lee Johnson enters the well-worked diggings of Gold Rush history and strikes a rich lode. Johnson explores the dynamic social world created by the Gold Rush in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Stockton, charting the surprising ways in which the conventions of identity—ethnic, national, and sexual—were reshaped. With a keen eye for character and story, she shows us how this peculiar world evolved over time, and how our cultural memory of the Gold Rush took root.

“Absolutely first-rate.”—The New Yorker This thrilling story is at once first-rate history and first-rate entertainment. Incredible events occurred in North America after a decrepit steamboat docked at Seattle in 1897 containing two tons of pure gold. So frenzied was the clash for gold and so scant was information about conditions in the Klondike that the rush for riches became a kind of fabulous madness. The entire tale—of which Pierre Berton’s account is the definitive telling—has an epic ring (legends were lived and fortunes were won) as much because of its splendid folly as because of its color and motion. “The definitive account of an affair as wildly improbable as any in North American history.”—Saturday Review “A lively saga of the great gold rush. It is the most complete and most authentic on the subject in English.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Jolly fellows,” a term that gained currency in the nineteenth century, referred to those men whose more colorful antics included brawling, heavy drinking, gambling, and playing pranks. Reforms, especially the temperance movement, stigmatized such behavior, but pockets of jolly fellowship continued to flourish throughout the country. Richard Stott scrutinizes and analyzes this behavior to appreciate its origins and meaning. Stott finds that male behavior could be strikingly similar in diverse locales, from taverns and boardinghouses to college campuses and sporting events. He explores the permissive attitudes that thrived in such male domains as the streets of New York City, California during the gold rush, and the Pennsylvania oil fields, arguing that such places had an important influence on American society and culture. Stott recounts how the cattle and mining towns of the American West emerged as centers of resistance to Victorian propriety. It was here that unrestrained male behavior lasted the longest, before being replaced with a new convention that equated manliness with sobriety and self-control. Even as the number of jolly fellows dwindled, jolly themes flowed into American popular culture through minstrelsy, dime novels, and comic strips. Jolly Fellows proposes a new interpretation of nineteenth-century American culture and society and will inform future work on masculinity during this period.