Choctaw Parker Mystery/Adventure

Railroad detective Jimmy Lee "Choctaw" Parker returns in this Gilded Age thriller when in August of 1886 he is hired by oil baron and entrepreneur Henry Morrison Flagler who is buying up railroads and building his grand new Ponce de Leon Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida. But Flagler's vision of opening the Sunshine State to settlement and tourism is not shared by everyone, so "Choctaw" Parker must investigate both the sabotage against the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, and Halifax railroad construction, and the threats on Flagler's life. The brutal murder of one of Flagler's employees drags Parker and his colleagues, Angus "Chub" Moody and Matilda Vance, into a quagmire of dangerous reactionaries and violent union organizers who oppose northern influence in their fine, old city. With the help of the city marshal of St. Augustine and a brave young medical student, Parker, Moody, and Vance battle villains who would dare to end Flagler's dream.

"You're the most famous railroad detective that nobody ever heard of," says railroad tycoon Henry Plant when in May of 1887 he hires Jimmy Lee "Choctaw" Parker to investigate the murder of his head surveyor and geologist Leon Skarvo. In a story that ranges from Tampa to Ybor City and along the Florida Southern Railroad line to Arcadia, Choctaw Parker and his colleagues battle deceitful politicians, bolita gamblers, and ruthless cracker cowboys to uncover the truth in this fast-paced mystery set in Florida during the Gilded Age. About the Choctaw Parker Mysteries, The Historical Novel Society says that Brewer creates "…an engaging, anchored crime tale. [He] crafts an interesting cast of many memorable, despicable, and even some semi-honorable characters within a realistic historical setting."