The Secret of the Silver Mines

Dylan Maples is being brought to the small town of Cobalt, Ontario by his lawyer father while he works on a case. While there, Dylan becomes invested in the mystery of what happened to the missing silver.
I really enjoyed this book. I realize that this is probably aimed at middle and high school kids, but I loved it. Growing up just east of the Ontario/New York border, I go to Canada a few times a year and watch a LOT of hockey. I learned a bit about the history of the NHL, which was cool, and I was engrossed in the story that Theo had to tell Dylan and Wyn. Seriously, I was sucked into this story and I know that my middle school self would have shoved it into all of my friends’ hands and tell them to read it. I’d highly recommend this book, especially if you like mystery, middle grade fiction, hockey, or stories about the past.

Thirteen-year-old Dylan Maples' lawyer dad has been hired by a wealthy client to recover silver worth a quarter of a million dollars, stolen, the client claims, in the early 1900s by a man named Theodore Larocque. Now the Maples family is moving from Toronto to Cobalt, a small town in Northern Ontario to find Laroque or, more likely, his heirs and recover the silver no matter how long this takes. None of the family is happy about it but Dylan is especially unhappy - he is leaving his friends and, worst of all, his hockey team behind and figures they are moving to hicksville full of nothing but hicks. Still, he signs up for hockey and is pleased to see the abilities of the other players.Then they play another team that's even better thanks to one player in particular. To Dylan's surprise, this player is a girl, Wynona Dixon. Dylan and Wynona become friends but when he explains why they are in Cobalt, it turns out Theo Laroque is her great-grandfather and, although, she has never met him, she is sure that he never stole the silver. Laroque is still alive surprisingly and is living in a huge and creepy old house at the top of a hill but no one has seen him for years - Dylan's dad has tried repeatedly to speak to him but has had no luck. Wynona decides that she and Dylan will visit him and find out the truth about what happened to the silver, a quest that will put the pair in real danger.

The Secret of the Silver Mines by author Shane Peacock is the second in the Dylan Maples Adventure series and is a clever and entertaining mystery for young adult readers. Dylan and Wynona are interesting characters as is Theo Laroque and there is plenty of action to keep a young reader engrossed . However, for an adult like me, the best part of the book was the actual history Peacock has written into the story, the silver rush of the early 20th c., the conditions under which the miners worked and the class divisions that developed as speculators, bankers, con artists, and entrepreneurs arrived in the town. There was also some fascinating history about the early days of hockey. As Cobalt grew rich thanks to the silver rush, their home team, the Cobalt Silver Kings played teams from all over including, once, the Montreal Canadiens. A fun snowy day read for a Middle grade reader.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Nimbus Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>