Western Mystery

After years of military service, cowboy Ken Jensen is ready to return to where he belongs—saddling broncs. But a two-day rodeo in the Utah desert turns into a crazier ride than he anticipated when he meets a private investigator, Dallas Welch. Dallas is familiar with Ken’s work as a military investigator and needs his help; there has been a major rash of cattle theft on local ranches, and Dallas needs a right-hand man to assist in his investigation. But before Ken can respond, the bullets start flying, leaving him no choice but to get involved.

In these dozen mystery short stories, you’ll find a newcomer’s ignorance used as a murder weapon, a modern, murderous twist on an O’Henry story, an old Irish myth that haunts a teen in an Idaho ski resort, the myriad ways to die in the desert, and much more.

Highway roadhouse waitress Holly Duncan's life is on hold - until she can accept her mother's disappearance of five years ago, decide where her future lies, and move on. Loner truck driver Tom Searle's life would sure be looking up, and close to blessed, if the stunning roadhouse redhead didn't seem so uncertain about his approaches. When new information and revelations rock Holly's world, Tom seizes the opportunity to step up and offer support.

Laura Elliston and William Kindle are on the run - from the army and from every miscreant in the West eager to claim the $500 bounty for Laura's capture as their own. But the danger isn't just from those pursuing them. Laura and Kindle both have demons of their own and pasts that won't stay dead. Exhausted, scared, scarred, and surrounded by enemies, neither realizes the greatest danger is yet to come.

Border patrol agents are being ambushed along the Big Bend region of West Texas, a notorious drug corridor running east and west across the Lone Star State. They’re not the only targets. A film production depicting human trafficking in the area has been attacked by a brutal drug cartel. Into this lawless frontier steps Texas Ranger Sonny Hawke, ready and willing to dispense his own brand of justice. It’s an all-out war with the thinnest line separating the good from the bad. Sonny knows the only way out is to aim straight and stand your ground....

Ted Sweeney. Affable everyman in small-town Montana. Tailgate hung on with baling wire, owner of his own business. Ten minutes ago, his biggest worry had been how to pay for the engagement ring rattling around in his pocket. But that was before he came home to find a corpse tidily arranged in his favorite recliner, his "old pal of a piece of furniture". Is it a warning or a setup or what? Sweeney can't help but admire the efficiency of the work, the slice deep across the guy's throat. Somebody knew what they were doing.

Lawrence Shaw still has the reputation as the fastest gun alive. But since the death of his beloved Rosa, his shots have come out of a bottle. Then a friend gets Shaw a job helping a widow with her ranch, and Fast Larry sees the glimmer of a second chance.

Scott Wilkinson is a young advertising executive on his way to the top. Christopher Miller is an FBI legend who has been willing to do whatever it takes to see that justice is done. Two weeks before Christmas, Wilkinson goes on a business trip that will forever entangle their two lives. It starts like so many others. Wilkinson calls for a car service to take him to the airport. But the driver drives like a maniac, and Wilkinson feels fortunate to reach the airport alive. Then he makes a big mistake.

Mike Tower is a circuit rider, a traveling preacher charged with tending the lawless souls of the Wild West. Utterly fearless, he carries no gun, only the word of the Lord - and the shadowy mystery of a secret past. Sharpshooting, hard-drinking Bird Hitchcock yields to no man, but a woman's gotta work. And so she hires herself out as the circuit rider's gun hand, protecting him along the treacherous trail from Missouri westward. As they ride, a new mission rises out of the dust of the sin-soaked land.

Between the Indian Nations and Texas lies an area on the south side of the Red River that was once the winter camp for the likes of the notorious guerrillas William Clarke Quantrill, Bloody Bill Anderson and later, the James Gang - known as Delaware Bend.

In the spring of 1880, Steve Dancy travels to Prescott, Arizona, to gain control of a remarkable invention. But on his first night in the territorial capital, his friend, Jeff Sharp, is arrested for a midnight murder at Thumb Butte. Dancy launches a personal investigation to find the real murderer, only to discover that the whole town wanted the victim dead. For help, he turns to another old friend and associate, Captain Joseph McAllen of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

After a traumatic assault, Hannah Novak returns to her home-town hoping for a fresh start. However, when strange gifts turn up on her doorstep, and a stalker fixates on her, she discovers that Blackbridge isn’t the safe haven it once was. With no family left to turn to, she’s forced to seek help from the broody new cop in town. Ryan Kilpatrick has travelled across the country to create a stable home for his young son, but being a police officer makes that hard. He doesn’t need Hannah’s problems added to his own, yet her courage and vulnerability awakens the protector in him.

Matt is in trouble again with the law, except this time, he is unable to weasel his way out. When Will hears of Matt’s latest arrest, it pushes their strained relationship to the limit. As Matt’s impulsive behavior leads to further trouble, dark secrets begin to unravel. The boys’ cousin, Lilianna Miller, raises questions about her true ethnicity, and discovers that she is a Native American, stolen as a newborn. Raised in a wealthy family, she is sheltered by her overprotective adoptive father. But when her parents are murdered by a gang, Lilianna is bloodthirsty for revenge.

Murder. Robbery. Kidnapping. Welcome to Napa Valley, California. To lawmen and bad men alike, the "Low Man" is a ghost story. The most feared bounty hunter to ever walk the territories. Whispered to be a Native American shapeshifter, a renegade Pinkerton detective, or the Bible-quoting son of a mad preacher. No one knows for sure. He’s a spectre outlaws scare each other with around campfires.

“Bad Bobby” Trent, star high school athlete, college scholarship holder, pro-rodeo circuit rider, lived an unencumbered life. He was a man, who, by his own definition, limited his concentration to no more than eight seconds at a time - the time required to ride a bull or saddlebronc and win. He’s tough, independent, shallow, and always looking for a good time. Then his father is murdered. Sheriff Robert Trent, was the longtime chief law enforcement officer of Lodge Pole County Montana. He was stern, fair, honest, and dependable.

A frantic young girl flees the reservation to escape the horrors of abuse at the hands of her adoptive family. Despising her white father they blame for the death of the girl's mother. The man is driven out only to be found dead along a lonely stretch of dirt road. Suffering through a long and desperate struggle on the back streets of Albuquerque, the girl somehow manages to survive, and against all odds, eventually claws her way up from the depths of degradation to a life of success beyond her wildest imagining.

Will is missing and a minor beef has developed between Oliver, Lisa, and Evelyn. Lisa strongly believes Oliver is to blame still, even though she’d lost any evidence to make him plead guilty. Evelyn, on the other hand, after Oliver reveals Lisa’s former cases of mental illness, is unsure of who to trust. She feels alone and vulnerable. Oliver tries to make her feel better, and they end up kissing at the foot of a mountain. Lisa realizes that her sister has been brainwashed by Oliver, and goes on a one-man stalking mission, which eventually leads her to where Will is being kept captive.

When self-defense trainer Charlie Sharp is nearly killed by an explosion, Wyoming detective Brian Bradshaw finds himself with a murder investigation on his hands. And worse, it involves one of his own. Now bodies are turning up, and Brian suspects Charlie knows more than she’s telling. Trusting each other is hard enough. But knowing her secrets might be more danger than he bargained for.

A rare breed of bulldog and bloodhound, private detective Luke Starbuck has been hired to ferret out the Judas working for the Central Pacific—a mastermind behind a string of train robberies. The target: gold shipments from the Frisco mint. All Starbuck has to do is pass himself off as an outlaw and infiltrate the pack. But chumming up to a gang leader like Denny O'Brien means that Starbuck must follow him into the vice pits of the notorious Barbary Coast. Getting inside this hellhole of crime is easy if you make the right moves. Make the wrong ones, and getting out could be murder.

Charlotte Mason, also known as Charley, is the headstrong, independent heiress of Bar M, a family-run ranch with high traditions and morals. But all is thrown to the Montana wind when two cowboys claim the same bloodline runs through their veins. When the only person who can support their claim is murdered, Charley must team up with those in question to find the truth. Soon, Charlotte will learn that knowing the truth has consequences. Set in a beautiful horse ranch in Montana, Pamela D. Hart's Heritage and Honor is a compelling mix of light Western romance and cozy mystery.