Western Mystery

When he’s not risking life and limb on the back of a bronc, local rodeo star Ken Jensen runs a private investigation firm in his small Utah town. With the help of his friend and fellow investigator Dallas Welch, Ken has wrangled cattle thieves and dodged bullets. But none of that prepares him for his latest case. When a mysterious phone call from a frantic young man sends Ken and Dallas leaping into action, they find an injured rodeo performer named Herbie whose run of bad luck has turned sinister.

The steady tick of an aged Regulator wall clock and the squeak of an overhead fan turning slowly are soft but insistent, counting down the night, while the high desert thrums like a half-remembered Victrola song. The sounds are below the consciousness of Winchell Dear, an old-time gambler, a Texas poker player on the southern circuit, as he waits for something...something vague that his life of chance tells him is evil and moving his way.

Crime-solving cowboys Gus "Old Red" and Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer are wandering around San Francisco when they stumble onto another mystery to be solved: the death of their acquaintance Dr. Chan. It turns out that no one wants this mystery solved, but that doesn't stop the brothers from riling up the locals with their heavy-handed investigations.

The bloody barbarism of the Civil War scarred Morgan’s soul as well as his body. He sent so many soldiers to Hell and almost joined them when he was struck by a bullet from the sniper known as the Arkansas Traveler. The only man to ever survive the notorious Rebel’s sharpshooting skills, Morgan finds himself back in the assassin’s sights. But the ex-Confederate isn’t the only one gunning for Morgan.

You’ve been to Placerita Town often to sell your father’s ironworks, but never have you experienced a day like this. Jumpin’ John and his gang of outlaws are tearing apart the town, and the Sheriff’s doing nothing to stop them.

When “Crazy” Kate Morgan learns that her sisters are the next targets on a killer’s to-do list, she’s hell-bent on chasing down trouble before it rides into Jackrabbit Junction. The problem: The darn law dogs keep nipping at her heels, tossing her in the hoosegow, and sidetracking her hunt. The solution: A posse — the pricklier, the better.

December 1863. Daniel Stark, New York lawyer and radical abolitionist, has come to Alder Gulch to get enough gold to redeem his family from disgrace after his father’s suicide revealed that he had gambled away his clients’ assets. But as travelers are robbed and murdered, Dan realizes that he will likely not survive. Then a friend is murdered, and Dan successfully prosecutes the suspected murderer in miners court.

Sherlock Holmes-worshiping cowboys Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer have starred in five Holmes on the Range novels, rustling up award nominations and fans aplenty as they cracked mysteries using the methods of their English hero. How did these Old West drifters first discover Holmes, though? What were they doing before their novel adventures began? And how did their early, awkward stabs at "deducifying" turn out? These seven short stories provide the answers.

Now that she’s absorbed the power of the Casper Creek nexus, Hannah Hickok is a witch on a mission. Her new powers require regular venting, and she’s surpassed even her limited expectations. It’s not magic on her mind when her father comes for a visit, though. Brad Hickok has always wanted to see Casper Creek, and now that he gets to visit, he’s extremely excited. He’s not alone, though. He’s brought his new girlfriend...and Hannah is thrown for a loop by her appearance.

Los Angeles, 1854. Felipe Alvitre and a band of teenage outlaws set out on a brutal, seemingly random killing spree across the San Gabriel Valley, igniting the ire of the Los Angeles citizens. Sheriff James Barton wrestles with a rapidly escalating crime rate and a populace that demands more from their corrupt, do-nothing legal system as the bodies continue to pile up.

No one liked Jake Kinsey. A rich man, he turned up out of nowhere, acquired Exmouth’s trophy penthouse flat, and then bought his way into the local rowing club. And now he’s dead. D/S Jimmy Suttle, a newcomer to the Devon and Cornwall force from his old job on Major Crimes in Portsmouth, is the one detective who suspects that Kinsey has been killed. His boss, beset by budget cuts and the pressure of other cases, needs to move on. The enquiry is dead in the water.

Forced to reassess her future, IT nerd and country girl Addie Kendall returns to her family's Wimmera farm. When she contacts her former school friend Harry Chandler with alarming news, they're compelled to unite to solve a criminal injustice. In pursuit of answers, they stumble upon a shocking find in the district's iconic Banyandah homestead, deserted since a family tragedy ten years ago.

Tex Larimee is a grizzled Arizona sheriff who’s leaving the deserts of Cactus County behind, blazing a trail east to mix it up with The Slickers in the canyons of Manhattan. Tex’s welcome to New York is a rude one. Robbed of his cash, gun and badge, he’s locked in a room in back of a run-down bar. Breaking out of the bar, he goes looking for his best friend...only to find him dead, his throat cut. And the cops accuse Tex of committing the murder.

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.

Deadfall tracks Charlie Yazzie, Thomas Begay, and Harley Ponyboy into unfamiliar territory. When a family member unexpectedly dies, a debilitating sense of loss overcomes our friends on the reservation. The ties that have bound them begin to unravel. What witch's evil is at work? Is the bond forever broken? Or is there a connection to the ancient past that might bring this malevolent aura to an end?

Evelyn keeps finding out new truths about her family. There is a web of deceit and lies around her, and only she can unravel it. Emotions play a major role in everyone’s decisions but the type of emotions, as well as how far people are willing to go for those emotions is the difference. Oliver tries to appear like the nice, caring gentleman who isn’t like his father, but he wants to frame Will to have Evelyn. Will will do anything to see Big Tom and Jack rot in prison?

Evelyn, Lisa, her sister, and her boyfriend, Will are led to believe that Oliver, Big Tom’s son, is on their side in the battle against the Hornets, even though Bill warns them against believing that. Lisa is the first to realize what a fraud Oliver is and his plan to frame Will and disturb his already strained relationship with Evelyn. She and Will lead a plan to put Big Tom behind bars. Their plan fails, however, Oliver is arrested for forgery. They celebrate the small win but not for long, as the Hornets strike not long after.

When Santa Claus enters a Texas bank just before Christmas in 1927, no one expects him to pull a gun. The fake white beard hides his identity from his neighbors while he and three others take everything. But their easy heist goes sideways fast when armed lawmen and citizens assemble to claim a new reward for dead bank robbers. Taking hostages, the gang forces a path through a frenzied and bloody shootout, setting the whole Lone Star state on their trail. One bandit dies in the getaway.

Lonesome Jim Barkley had once been a town-taming law man. Now he was a man with a reward on his head, wanted for robbery and murder. The banker, Tade Wardow, knows this and thinks he can turn it to his advantage in a way that will also make Barkley money. Yet, for Barkley, there is another consideration, one more urgent than robbing Wardow's bank.