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Audiobook edition · 8 h 7 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
In the Canadian wilderness, gold promises wealth—but hidden motives make trust a dangerous gamble.
The La Chance Mine Mystery by Susan Morrow Jones brings together a remote mine, rough country and the lure of gold. Mining claims and long journeys drive this old-fashioned adventure. Forests, rivers, lakes and rock shape the routes people take, while the promise of wealth gives them reasons to press on.
The mystery turns on what remains hidden. People do not always say what they mean, and their motives invite a closer look. As you follow the puzzle around the mine, weigh each claim against what goes unsaid. Beneath the search for riches lies a question about honest dealing: what is fair play worth when greed offers another path?
What you’ll discover
- A wilderness that matters Enter northern country where forests, water and rock set the terms of every journey.
- The pull of gold Explore the hope and greed that gather around a mine and its promise of wealth.
- Reasons to look closer Watch what people reveal, what they conceal, and where their words leave room for doubt.
- Courage against cunning Consider the place of honesty and fair play in an adventure shaped by hidden motives.
- An old-fashioned adventure Follow long journeys and a mining puzzle through the rough landscapes of the Canadian wilderness.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a mystery of wolves, winter and hidden gold, a narrator who laughs at his own mistakes, and a romance between two people who each keep a secret.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A freezing night crossing brings Nick home
- Marcia explains who the girl really is
- The mine strikes gold and Macartney takes charge
- Nick keeps covering for a girl with secrets
- A night drive through the wolves
- Clues on the corduroy road and at Skunk's Misery
- Paulette signs a name that stops Nick cold
- A night of killing and a dead man's cards
- Trust is tested at every turn
- Masks, names and the dream of home
- How wolves, lake and voice build the tale
Who’s who
- Nick StrettonThe narrator, a young bush engineer who builds the mine road and longs for a home and a girl of his own.
- Paulette BrownA graceful girl with bronze hair who lives at La Chance under a borrowed name and guards a secret.
- Dudley WilbrahamThe short, fat, drinking owner of the La Chance mine, loud and generous, and sure he can solve crimes.
- Marcia WilbrahamDudley's bold, sharp-tongued sister, who sells her horses, comes to the mine and wants to know who Paulette really is.
- MacartneyThe tall, capable new superintendent who strikes gold in a fresh tunnel and keeps his men in line.
- ThompsonThe old, quiet superintendent who played solitaire every evening and left the mine under strange circumstances.
- Dunn and CollinsTwo idle young men from Yale in the bunkhouse who seem to be planning something of their own.
- Billy JonesThe foreman of the Halfway stables, a stolid man who looks after the road and the horses.
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The La Chance Mine Mystery
by Susan Morrow Jones · 1920
Nick Stretton crosses a treacherous lake at night and finds the girl of his dreams waiting by the fire.
Medium level5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
What would you do if a stranger gripped your shoulder in the dark and whispered that you must leave, and then you found her sitting by your fire? That is how Nick Stretton comes home to La Chance, a remote gold mine in the Canadian bush.
The La Chance Mine Mystery at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 40 min3 h 40 min fast, 5 h 30 min slow
- Length
- 66,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1920by Susan Morrow Jones
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A freezing night crossing brings Nick home
Nick Stretton paddles a leaky borrowed canoe across Lac Tremblant on a bitter November evening. He is hungry and worn out, because nobody sent a horse to meet him. For three months he has built fifty miles of road to the La Chance mine. The lake offers a shortcut that saves him twenty-two miles on foot.
The lake cannot be trusted. Its depth changes overnight, and rocks hide beneath the surface. That is why Nick built a road around it. He also smells like carrion, because he spilled a foul brew over his clothes in Skunk's Misery, thinking it was liniment.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 15 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1920
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 15 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Jones, Susan Morrow. The La Chance Mine Mystery. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-la-chance-mine-mystery.
Jones, S. M. (2026). The La Chance mine mystery. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-la-chance-mine-mystery (Original work published 1920)
Jones, Susan Morrow. The La Chance Mine Mystery. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-la-chance-mine-mystery.
@book{jones2026la,
author = {Jones, Susan Morrow},
title = {The La Chance Mine Mystery},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-la-chance-mine-mystery},
note = {First published 1920}
}
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What is The La Chance Mine Mystery about?
It follows Nick Stretton, a young bush engineer, who returns to a remote Canadian gold mine and meets a girl with a secret. Strange accidents, wolves and a dead man's cards draw him into a plot to seize the gold.
Who is Paulette Brown in the book?
She is a graceful young woman living at La Chance, brought there by the mine owner Dudley Wilbraham. She keeps her past hidden, marks the gold with blue seals, and is fearful of someone at the mine.
What is Skunk's Misery?
It is a poor village of huts hidden among rocks and pines in the bush between Caraquet and Lac Tremblant. Nick spends a week there nursing a boy, and the place matters more than he first thinks.
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