Mining for Justice

Mining for Justice by Kathleen Ernst is the eighth book in A Chloe Ellefson Mystery series. Chloe Ellefson is off to spend a week at Pendarvis, a historic site in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. First, though, Chloe and her boyfriend, Roelke McKenna will be assisting Adam Bolitho with some work on Chy Looan (Bolitho family cottage in Mineral Point). Adam and Roelke are excavating the old root cellar when they discover the skeleton with a bashed in skull. Chloe agrees to look into the victim's identity using the records at Pendarvis. It looks like her week at Pendarvis will not be as pleasant as she hoped when an article appears in the local paper about the possible closing of the historic site for lack of funds thanks to Old World Wisconsin where Chloe works as a curator. One morning, Chloe enters Polperro House looking for her Pendarvis counterpart, Claudia and discovers the body of Dr. Yvonne Miller at the foot of the stairs. Now she has two mysteries to resolve before heading back home at the end of the week. Can Chloe discover the identity of the bones that were Adam's root cellar? Who wanted Dr. Miller dead and why?

Mining for Justice can be read alone. Everything the reader needs to know is included in the book. I found the characters to be nicely developed and just right for this series. I kept forgetting is the story is set during 1983. Every time that Chloe needed a phone, I kept wondering why she did not use her cell phone. I can tell that Ms. Ernst did her research for this novel and the series. I liked finding out more about the history of Cornish miners after they came to the United States. Part of the story takes readers back in time (starting in 1827) to discover how the body ended up in the root cellar. There is quite a bit of action in the story. We have what I summarized above along with Roelke dealing with his sister, Libby's abusive ex-husband, a possible promotion/training for Roelke, and Roelke dealing with a drug investigation (Roelke is a police officer). The novel has a slower pace, but it is due to the details that enrich the story. I am giving Mining for Justice 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). The identity of Dr. Miller's murderer can be ferreted out before the reveal along with who did in the boney remains. While I do not like murders to occur early in the book, I felt that at 42% it was a little late in the story. Overall, Mining for Justice is an entertaining cozy mystery and I look forward to reading more books in A Chloe Ellefson Mystery series.