The Owner Lies Dead – Tyline Perry (1930)

When Coachwhip Publications reprinted The Owner Lies Dead in 2017, it was definitely one of the Golden Age reprints receiving a lot of buzz at the time.  The reviews full on caught my attention, promising a rare mine-set mystery combined with a vexing impossible crime.  It made my Christmas wish list that year, and has inexplicably sat unread ever since.

Well, not that I haven’t tried to read it.  I’ve taken several trips through the southwest United States since obtaining this book, and each time, The Owner Lies Dead has traveled with me.  Through legendary old mining towns like Silverton, Ouray, Durango, Telluride, and Idaho Springs, the book has jostled along.  Of course I have this bad habit of always packing two books too many when I travel (wouldn’t want to get stuck dry), and somehow I never got around to reading it.  I’ve even driven past Genesee, Colorado (where the Coachwhip publication states the book is set) multiple times with the book tagging along with me (Genesee is located just outside of Denver near Red Rocks amphitheater – you’ll inevitably unknowingly drive past it if you’re ever in Colorado to ski).  While the book does take place in a mining town named Genesee, I’m not convinced that the town is supposed to be set in Colorado (although author Tyline Perry was a resident of the mountain state), because at several points in the story, it seems to be implied that New York City is relatively close by.