Mystery Western Historical Fiction

Traversing a vivid landscape, from sunblasted hills and canyons to the nighttime streets of America's greatest cities, some of Louis L'Amour's most compelling fiction was set in his own time. Here are tales of innocents caught in the schemes of criminals, detectives hunting down truths that hide more lies, gangsters and beauties, private investigators and cops. Here is a world populated by the kinds of people who risk their lives to right a wrong, make a buck, or save a friend.

Venturing into the bustling city was her family's last hope to save their struggling farm. Little did she know that fate had other plans. In New York, Lillian Guilford loses her job at a textile mill and takes on a daring disguise to secure a new position as an author of Penny Bloods. Her gripping tales provide both escape and livelihood, but her success comes at a cost. Lillian must navigate a precarious balancing act, concealing her true identity while being drawn to the handsome owner of the publishing house, Apollo Donovan. Shadows lurk on the edges of her life, threatening to unravel ...

Matthew Penny, a young lawyer, arrives on the frontier with nothing but shattered dreams. Unable to face the memories that await back home, he joins the handful of lawyers practicing in Portland, Oregon - which in 1860 is just a riverfront town in a state less than a year old. Worthy Brown, a slave from Georgia, journeys west with his master, Caleb Barbour, who promises to reward Worthy and his daughter, Roxanne, with their freedom if they help him establish a homestead in Oregon. When Barbour reneges on his pledge, Worthy's hope for a fresh start with his child is destroyed.

A mysterious ceremony in an unknown location has triggered a catastrophic countdown that will climax in no less than the end of all life on Earth. But Jack and his team might be able to ward off the coming Armageddon if they can find the fabled Six Sacred Stones.

Colorado! Some came for freedom; others, to build a new life. But in 1858, when gold is discovered in the Colorado region, thousands of desperate men and women descend on Denver like a hungry swarm. Homesteaders struggle to hold onto their claims, but none are immune to the effects of gold fever. Wagon train veteran Chet Harris risks his life to repeat the success he found in the California gold fields. Mineral expert Luke Brando masquerades as a banker, while his wife hides a yearning for riches of her own. And young Cathy Blake discovers just how far she’ll go to defeat a voluptuous rival.

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.

One of the bestselling novelists of the American West brings us a gripping tale of gold, greed, and vengeance.

Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer is an old-fashioned kind of guy: He prefers a long trail ride even when a train ticket can get him where he's going in one-tenth the time. So when it's Old Red who insists on guarding the Pacific Axpress, despite a generations-old family distrust of the farm stealin', cattle-killin', money-grubbing' railroads, Big Red is flummoxed. But as usual, he'll follow his ornery brother just about anywhere.

There's something rotten in Wyoming, and it's not just the smell of cow pies - the first whiff is coming off the Laramie County Cattlemen. Right off the bat, Duff notices something odd: no small-time ranchers allowed. It's big leaguers only. And none are bigger than Brad Houser, owner of the sprawling Twin Peaks ranch. He's up in arms over the small-timers claiming the unbranded mavericks who escape their herds. Which is perfectly legal. Houser has a plan to stop these former cowboys from taking their runaways. For $1,000, Houser will make the small ranchers go away - six feet under.

Yuma Prison is a fetid hellhole filled with the dregs of humanity — killers, thieves, and backstabbers who'd kill over a scrap of meat. Now it's home to Frank Morgan, who's posing as an inmate. A ruthless outlaw named Cicero McCoy has buried a fortune in stolen bank money in a harsh, desolate little piece of hell known as Ambush Valley. To get Cicero to lead him to the loot, Frank has become Cicero's new best friend behind bars — and co-plotter of a daring breakout. Until the time comes for Frank Morgan to make a fatal choice — and for one of them to die....

It has been a rough winter and money is scarce. The fur business has collapsed, and the mining has played out. A train robbery near Colorado Springs was successful and a large reward has been offered. Jake Rawlins and his friends Moses, and Iron Knife learn the robbers have ridden south to Mexico. The robbers took gold, silver, and eight mail-order brides from Boston. A long trek south is more difficult than they ever imagined. Rich with Mexican history and non-stop action, the three bounty hunters encounter one hurdle after another. How do you cross the Mexican Badlands with eight ...

Zane Grey wrote this splendidly thrilling sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage in 1915, but for almost 90 years it has existed in a profoundly censored version. At last, the real story can be told.

In Hangtree, Texas, any day could be your last. For on the heels of the Civil War, Hangtree is drawing gamblers, fast women and faster gunmen. Amidst the brawls and shooting, the land-grabbing and card-sharking, two men barely hold the boomtown together: Yankee Sam Heller and Texan Johnny Cross. Heller and Cross can’t stand the sight of each other. And Hangtree needs them more than ever. A Comanche named Red Hand leads a horde of warriors on a horrific path of bloodshed and destruction, with Hangtree sitting right in Red Hand’s path.

When Frank Morgan gets to a town called Los Angeles, he can see the forces gathering around him. For the Spanish landowners, wealth is measured in cattle on the open range. For hard nosed oilmen, a fortune is in the ground - in the form of shining black crude oil.... When blood is spilled on the sun-seared land, Morgan allies himself with a beautiful, widowed rancher - even as he cuts a deal with an ambitious wildcatter. Morgan is not trying out treachery.

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.

The Reapers: An Earp & Masterson Mystery When justice wears a badge... and evil wears a mask. Dodge City bleeds under the reign of terror from a brutal gang cloaked in black robes and white masks. Dubbed The Reapers by terrified townsfolk and scandalized newspapers, these ghostlike marauders leave behind only scorched earth and silence. Trains are derailed, stagecoaches vanish, ranchers are slaughtered—and no one can trace the killers. Enter legendary lawmen Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, men of grit and grit alone, sworn to protect a frontier on the brink of lawless collapse. As the ...

From one of the most beloved Western authors comes an epic historical tale of adventure and romance in the great wilderness. Against the epic backdrop of the building of the Union Pacific Railroad across plains and deserts and through the mountains to meet up with the Southern Pacific in Utah comes a sprawling, historical tale. Warren Neale is a brilliant civil engineer who is constantly confronted with construction problems. He is sided by Larry Red King, a Texas gunfighter and friend.

The Civil War has just ended and world-weary Sheriff Jesse Smith likes his town quiet and peaceful. One night, the body of a young woman is found torn apart, and that peace is shattered as it dawns on him that a predator is among them. With little to go on, all the men in the town are potential suspects, and Jesse begins an investigation that spans the social spectrum. Unable to find the killer, the mayor goes against Jesse's wishes and brings in bounty hunters. But the cure may be more dangerous than the disease.

They survived America’s deadliest Indian war; winning a lasting peace proves even more dangerous for new mother Annabelle and Union sharpshooter Josey Angel. The couple are thriving as ranchers during Montana’s gold rush. With an end to fighting on the “Bloody Bozeman” trail, they can build a family home. But when a series of gruesome murders jeopardizes treaty negotiations, Annabelle and Josey must find and clear the name of the warrior who once held Annabelle captive: Crazy Horse. “He’s just as likely to kill me as listen to me,” Josey says of the man determined to drive off...

An Indian family is brutally murdered. Greenhorn Deputy US Marshal Jubal Smoak figures he knows the killer: the renegade Crow Redhand. In pursuit of the outlaw, the lawman rides deep into the tribal lands of the Quapaw and encounters a legend. A legend where the stirring of an ancient demon terrorizes the land. Smoak's pursuit of the killer winds him deeper into the Indian lore, on a trail that can only end in death....