The Old Cape Blood Ruby

by Barbara Eppich Struna

In 1898, the Portland Gale tore across Provincetown on Cape Cod’s coast. Walter Ellis, a descendant of legendary Maria Hallett, loses his ship and fishing livelihood. Forced to leave his family behind, he seeks gold in Alaska but never returns. Present day Nancy Caldwell travels to Alaska to visit family. She discovers an old letter destined for Provincetown but never sent. Back home on Cape Cod, a 1780s house, a hidden ‘pigeon’s blood’ ruby ring, and a past nemesis complicate Nancy’s search for what happened to the missing fisherman. Using dueling timelines between centuries, the historical fiction, “The Old Cape Blood Ruby,” follows Nancy as she untangles the lost message’s clues, in a quest filled with love, heartbreak, and treasure.

Genres: Historical Fiction

310 pages, Paperback

Published May 13, 2021

About the author

A storyteller at heart, Barbara bases her tales on her own personal experiences. She has created a contemporary character, an amateur sleuth, who becomes the vehicle that moves her stories between time periods in alternating chapters. Aided by Barbara's imagination and her love of history, myth, and legend, she continues to create winning novels.

Her first suspenseful historical, The Old Cape House, won "First Place - Historical Fiction, Royal Dragonfly Awards 2014", which led to the second, The Old Cape Teapot and the third, The Old Cape Hollywood Secret, also awarded, "First Place Historical Fiction - Royal Dragonfly Awards 2017", "Hollywood Book Festival - Genre Based 2017", "Finalist Fiction: Mystery/Suspense IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards 2018", "Finalist Eric Hoffer Book Award 2018", "Finalist/Suspense - 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards".

She is an International Best Selling Author, a Member in Letters of the National League of American Pen Women, International Thriller Writers, Panelist Thrillerfest 2016, IBPA, Sisters In Crime: National, New England, LA, and President of Cape Cod Writers Center. Always a journal writer, she is fascinated by history and writes a blog about the unique facts and myths of Cape Cod.

Reviews

[Brenda L Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loving the Old Cape books.

[Vintagebooklvr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Struna weaves a story of Alaska in the Gold Rush, a pirate’s treasure, and a modern-day woman’s search through an old house about to be put on the market together into a satisfying drama with moments of suspense and mystery. Part of a series, it is not necessary to read the others to understand this one because the connections to the other books are explained enough for the reader to understand without being inundated with information.

I very much enjoyed the historical stories and how they were connected and brought to a resolution in the present day. My only complaint was there were too many instances of the main character running into artifacts in different parts of the country that just happened to tie together the mystery she was investigating. Overall, an enjoyable story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

[Judy Houston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read. Love the alternating chapters in present day them back in 1800s, and how she ties things together. This one was more suspenseful than last one I read of hers.

[Gail Alexander]

It was okay

[Genia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story but it had to many side stories. Hard for me to follow at times

[Paul Raymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a story that travels from sea to shining sea and spans the years from earliest beginnings of the United States to today. It is part memoir, part mystery, and part historical fiction. Parts of the story are written from the first person and parts from the third person points of view. There are a lot of threads to weave together into a coherent and entertaining tale.

The “pigeon’s blood” ruby is a set in a mysterious ring that appears on the finger in the portrait of a historic lady that hangs over the fireplace of Neil Hallett. The ring is allegedly from the treasure of the pirate, Sam Bellamy, captain of the notorious Wydah—another neat loop in Struna’s tale. Hallett, the thief, is descended from a thief. New England, and Cape Cod in particular, is filled with family history. The graveyards are filled with Bangs, Swetts, Allens, and Brewsters. They were settlers, fishermen, and ministers. The fictional Walter Ellis of this story was a fisherman, whose livelihood was cut short by the destruction of his ship in the Portland Gale of 1898. Leaving his family, he sets off to find gold in Alaska.

By a twist of fate, he is set upon by thugs on the streets of Seattle, and misses his passage to Alaska and separated from his friends. When he recovers, he signs on to another ship owned by a millionaire named E.H. Harriman, a railroad tycoon. In 1899, Harriman really did sponsor and accompany a scientific expedition to catalog the flora and fauna of the Alaska coastline. Many prominent scientists and naturalists went on the expedition, aboard the luxuriously refitted 250-foot steamer, SS George W. Elder. Struna’s fictional Walter Ellis signed aboard to complete his journey to Juneau. Another twist of fate, burns and disfigures Ellis, and causes him to lose the sight of one eye and put him into the hospital in Juneau where he is cared for by an attractive Indigenous nurse.

These aspects of history are interwoven with present day Nancy Caldwell, history detective. She is the link that connects Provincetown to Juneau and the past to the present. Nancy has a son who happens to be living in Alaska near where Walter Ellis ended up. During a familial visit, she acquires the remnants of a letter and a wallet discovered by a young girl in a cleft in a rock near Nancy's son's house.

Nancy is an antiques sleuth, and when she returns to Cape Cod she is invited to survey the contents of an old house in Provincetown. Neil Hallett is also interested in the contents of the house, and Struna begins to weave the stories into an interesting tapestry. Will Walter abandon hopes of returning to his family and marry the beautiful nurse? Will the Tlingit tribe accept him? Will his wife remarry, declaring Walter dead? Will Neil Hallett find the ruby before Nancy Caldwell does?

The Old Cape Blood Ruby is a complicated story with Struna juggling all the different elements. As a reader, I could feel her joy at bringing the past to life. An old house is full of memories from all the lives that have passed through it. This is a well researched, well founded, and interesting tale that satisfies an interest in history, twisted into a gentle and loving mystery. It is respectful of Indigenous Alaskan people as well as the present day residents of Cape Cod while honoring the use of the reader’s time.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

We see bits of 1780s but the main timelines are 1898 through the early 1900s and the present time. In 1898 Walter Ellis loses his livelihood and income when he lost his ship. Tales of Alaska riches swirl around his mind so he decides to pack up and leave his family (wife Sarah, daughter Grace and son Charles) for Alaska. His trip is fraught with problems but he falls in love with Alaska. Meanwhile, back home his family is forced to fend for themselves so begin taking in boarders. All of their lives are modified due to Walter's decision.

In the present, Nancy travels to Alaska and discovers a life-changing letter. She seeks answers which are embedded in ancestry and legend. We follow her quest as well as the lives of the Ellis and Hallett families. There is a very helpful family tree in the back of the book.

I like how the author knits together the various timeframes. Well done.

My sincere thank you to Bestruna Books and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this intriguing book.

[Sandra Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved The Old Cape Series

I liked all of the books and the mystery of how Nancy Caldwell searched for details on her finds. It was scary at times when Nancy got into some precarious situations in her searches.

[Bailey Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get into the story, around halfway is when I got into it.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is very good. Nancy is always getting into trouble.