Dead Man's Brand

By Norbert Davis

Black Dog Books, 2011

Dead Man’s Brand is a superb collection of eight stories written by Norbert Davis, a writer perhaps better known for his mystery and detective fiction. In this book, Tom Roberts of Black Dog Books has brought together eight of his western stories, the first of which was made into a Hollywood film under the new title of Hands Across the Rockies. These stories originally appeared in the pulps such as Star Western and were published in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s.

The eight stories are sandwiched between a fascinating introduction by Bill Pronzini in which he outlines Norbert Davis’ publishing history, and an Appendix in which Ed Hulse looks in detail at how A Gunsmoke Case for Major Cain was turned into a Hollywood film.

Contents:

A Gunsmoke Case for Major Cain

Their Guardian from Hell

Leetown’s One-Man Army

Dead Man’s Brand

The Gunsmoke Banker Rides In

Death Creeps

Sign of the Sidewinder

Boot-Hill Bait

Due to the time these stories were first published I expected them to be filled with old cowboy lingo and was surprised to find this wasn’t true, other than one or two terms and the lack of bad language these tales could have been written today. I was also surprised at how dark some of these stories are, none really feature a white-hat, clean-cut hero. The lead roles in Davis’ stories are taken by what I would call anti-heroes, tough men who won’t let anything stop them achieving their goals. Davis’ often includes moments of humour to lighten these darker themes.

Each story is action packed and fast paced. The plots are well thought out and filled with twists and turns. Opening sentences grabbing the readers’ attention instantly, making you want to read more to discover just what is going on, and then you’ll find yourself wondering how everything will be resolved making it impossible to stop reading a story once started: for instance how can the main character in the title story convince anyone that he hasn’t killed himself to gain an inheritance? 

So, once more, praise must be given to Tom Roberts for producing this excellent book and bringing Norbert Davis’ western work back into the limelight. This is definitely a book all western fans should own.

The Gallows Land

By Bill Pronzini

Gunsmoke, 2005

Original published 1983

Roy Boone wanders aimlessly in the arid Southwest, a life with no meaning since the death of his wife. He is desperate for water, and stops at a ranch where Jennifer Todd gives him food and drink. Seeing this pretty young woman with her battered and bruised face, Roy is concerned for her welfare. That night, he finds Jennifer’s husband dead and he believes that she killed him. Then Roy is attacked by someone hiding in the shadows, and shortly after he is shot at by strangers. He has a lot to fret about, not least Jennifer – who has by now gone missing.

Bill Pronzini really grabs the reader’s attention in the early part of this book as question piles upon question. Just what is going on? Who are all these people Roy Boone unwittingly finds himself tangled with? What has happened to Jennifer? And so it goes on; puzzle after puzzle that hook the reader with their twists and turns.

The book is written in the first person so further developments are just as surprising to the reader as they are to Roy Boone. The story is told at a fast pace, although I did feel its momentum sagged a little as it moved into the second half before picking up speed again for its exciting final fight that sees one of the characters meet a particularly gruesome death.

This book has been put out by a number of different publishers and this version adds some author information at the back. Here we discover that this book has the same beginning as a (short?) story written by Bill Pronzini called Decision.

Overall I found The Gallows Land to be an entertaining read that will certainly have me keeping an eye-out for Bill Pronzini’s other westerns.

Crucifixion River

by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

Leisure, February 2010

The dark clouds are gathering, and it’s promising to be a doozy of a storm at the River Bend stage station…where the owners are anxiously awaiting the return of their missing daughter. Where a young cowboy hopes to find safety from the rancher whose wife he’s run away with. Where a Pinkerton agent has tracked the quarry he’s been chasing for years. Thunder won’t be the only thing exploding along CRUCIFIXION RIVER.

The title story in this book is written in the first person, in fact told from the viewpoint of many people, each short chapter being titled by the name of the character who’s thoughts the reader will share. This is just one of the things that makes this story extremely memorable.

Crucifixion River brings together a fascinating bunch of people, a number of whom aren’t satisfied with the lives, those that hide secret pasts, those who are running away, and those who aren’t ready to reveal who they really are before the time is right. Due to this many of these characters soon become suspicious of, and have doubts about, the people they find themselves with. After a sudden burst of violence the opportunity for robbery arises too. This all leads to a well told, and exciting, climax.

After this terrific western tale come a number of other short stories, and here Leisure have crossed genres, all the others falling under the mystery banner. All these stories having been published elsewhere such as in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine *.

Included in this book are:

Crucifixion River by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

Free Durt by Bill Pronzini *

He Said…She Said by Marcia Muller

Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Bill Pronzini

Irrefutable Evidence by Marcia Muller *

The Carville Ghost by Bill Pronzini *

Pickpocket by Marcia Muller *

The Dying Time by Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini

All the stories are well-written, gripping, tales. Twists and turns abound. Characters are well drawn and will stick in the mind for a long time. My favourite being Free Durt.

The idea of mixing both western and mystery fiction in one book works well and makes this a must read for those who enjoy both genres. And for those whose preferred reading material is westerns, the strength of the title story should have you hunting this book out, and who knows after reading the mystery tales you may become a fan of that genre too – and vice-versa.

This book was published at the end of January so should be available now.

Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller are a husband-wife writing team with numerous individual honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Grand Master Award from Mystery Writers of America, and the American Mystery Award. In addition to the Spur Award–winning title novella, this volume also contains stories featuring Bill Pronzini’s famous “Nameless Detective” and Marcia Muller’s highly popular Sharon McCone investigator.

Western Fiction News

For those who enjoy westerns with strong mystery storylines then keep an eye-out for these two books coming from Leisure. Killstraight by Johnny D. Boggs will be released in December 2009 and Crucifixion River by Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini will be published in February 2010.




If my review of Gunsmoke has you eager for more of T.T. Flynn’s work, then I’ve been informed that Leisure will be publishing Last Waltz at Wild Horse in May 2010.




For those who follow the adventures of Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long, Clint Adams and John Slocum, you’ll be pleased to know the next giant editions in all three series will be hitting the shelves during the next three months.

Longarm Giant Edition #27: Longarm and the Lone Star Trackdown has a publishing date of October 2009.

The Gunsmith Giant Edition #14: Lincoln’s Revenge has a November 2009 release date.

Slocum Giant Edition #15: Slocum’s Great Race has a release date of December 2009.

All books in these series, including the Giants, usually appear towards the end of the previous month than during the actual published date month, and the Longarm book has been out for a while now, in fact it will be reviewed here in a few days time.