The ruby red garnets found in northern New York State are sought not for gemstones but valued as an industrial abrasive. History calls them Adirondack Rubies. But to die for?Joe Baldwin refuses to sell his garnet-laden farm land to the mining company and chases off the land agent. That should have been the end of the matter, but when Grace Wickham stumbles over the farmer's dead body while on a picnic with the new Constable, Ambrose Baldoon the matter of the Baldwin land and its garnets becomes a murder mystery. Did the land agent react violently to Joe Baldwin's refusal? Was Baldwin so hated by his own estranged family members that they killed him for an inheritance—to accept the land deal? Grace is the daughter of a doctor and trained in medicine and herbal remedies. She had been called on by the coroner to investigate murders in the past and Ambrose asks for her help. As she searches for motives and questions suspects, the accounts of hardscrabble Adirondack life throughout the rich history of the area is illuminated. A storied time of the Underground Railroad, magic lantern shows for entertainment and the threat of the lawless Molly Maguires comes to life in Adirondack Rubies to Die For.
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