Barkerville Gold

Deborah Dowson is a Canadian children’s librarian living in Powell,
Ohio.

After their adventures in Mystery from History (2001), Rusty and
Katie’s grandparents take them and their friend Sheila on a camping
and sightseeing trip to the historic British Columbia gold-mining town
Barkerville. On their first night, the kids see what appears to be the
ghost of Three Finger Evans, a prospector whose life and death were
fraught with mystery and intrigue. As the trio begin to investigate what
happened in the past, they discover that a real stash of gold has been
left in the area, and some dangerous people are trying to find it. In
solving the mystery, the kids put right an old wrong and undo a curse
that has plagued the Evans family for more than a century.

The story contains a good deal of description about the town of
Barkerville, its history, and its inhabitants, and would be a useful
educational support for any class studying Barkerville or the B.C. gold
rushes. The story itself, though, is not terribly exciting; most of its
suspense comes from the kids acting on their own with the fear of being
caught where they don’t belong. Curiously, the cover depicts three
boys, although two of the main characters are girls. Despite these
shortcomings, the novel would be a fun read for any young visitor to
Barkerville. Recommended with reservations.