Her passion for enlarging library audiences and developing a remarkable research collection inspired the creation of the Eleanor Gehres Award, first bestowed on her shortly before her death in 2000. In 2014, Sandra Dallas was chosen as the recipient of the annual Eleanor Gehres Award, for her contribution to the historical record. In 1999, the Denver Public Library Commission established the Eleanor Gehres Award in recognition of her longtime service and contributions to the Western History/Genealogy Department of the Denver Public Library. Among the many 'documentary' shots of important historical locations around the state are lots of close ups of prosaic details: doorknobs, light fixtures, wallpaper, and fireplaces, that impart the often overlooked, less tangible parts of history that we miss in classically framed photographs. For those, like me, who are used to a character-driven story from Dallas, this one is a disappointment.The 370 Sandra Dallas photographs in the Western History Digital Collection are mostly of architecture and architectural details in Denver, Colorado, and many smaller Colorado towns and Ghost Towns. Even so, I had to force myself through because there was never anyone I felt like cheering on within any of the pages. The mystery is fairly well done, with a number of red herrings and an eventual conclusion that, while not unexpected, is still fairly chilling. The often stylized way of speaking (“And do you have proof of these foul accusations?”) seemed to be an unsuccessful attempt at recreating Austen’s work, and yet the words just do not feel natural. In an attempt to show Beret’s strength and polish, Dallas writes her as stiff and aloof I never warmed up to her personality so I never was particularly shocked by anything she exposed. Normally I love anything Sandra Dallas writes, but this one was, unfortunately, rather flat for me. Layer after layer is revealed until lives are laid bare and all is revealed. While these details are shocking, it soon becomes evident that Beret herself has much to hide, as do her politically-minded aunt and uncle, with whom her she and her sister previously lived. But the more the two delve into the grisly crime, the more secrets are revealed: not only was Lillie, once a pampered, privileged young woman, a prostitute when she was murdered, but she was also pregnant. Beret is a strong woman, well-off and smart, and it doesn’t take long before she is working with Detective Mick McCauley in an effort to learn more about the last weeks of Lillie’s life. Beret Osmundsen arrives in a Denver police station in the spring of 1885, determined to discover who murdered her younger sister, Lillie.

Fallen Women by Sandra Dallas