A young woman heads west to Powder Valley in search of her father—but finds trouble instead William Wilcox could never stand his life in Philadelphia. He adored his wife and their daughter, Joan, but the city strangled him. So he fled west, establishing himself under a false name in the idyllic township of Powder Valley, Colorado. When her mother dies, Joan travels to the Valley in search of the only family she has left. She shows an old photo to the sheriff, Pat Stevens, who recognizes the man in the picture as Bill Freeman, one of the most respected ranchers in the valley. It's a happy moment, but tragedy is not far behind. The day after Joan's arrival, Bill Freeman is found dead. Although she insists he was her father, she has no proof and ends up in a showdown with Bill's adopted son over their inheritance. Unless Pat and his friends Sam and Ezra can settle the matter quietly, the Freeman farm will run with blood.

To save the Pony Express, Sheriff Pat Stevens and his sidekick Sam Sloan must ride faster than ever before In a barren stretch of southern Colorado, a small shack links Powder Valley to the rest of the world. Every other day, Sam Sloan comes thundering over the range with a mail sack over his shoulder—just one link in the long line of riders known as the Pony Express. In all the time he's been riding the route, he's never been one minute late, and his perfect record has won the attention of company brass. The Express is planning a new route linking Colorado and Wyoming, and they want Sam to break it in. The trail between Denver and Laramie is raw, with danger lurking on all sides. To deliver, Sam will need speed, ammunition, and the help of his two best friends, the one-eyed giant, Ezra, and Powder Valley's sheriff, Pat Stevens.

In a dry patch of West Texas, Twister and Chuckaluck go to war for water At first, Twister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson think it must be a mirage. If real, the willow trees they see on the horizon mean that water is nearby, and in this dusty stretch of the Southwest, water is rarer than gold. They rub the grit from their eyes, yet the sight remains. There really is water up ahead—and death just around the corner. As the two friends ride toward the trees, they hear the sound of rushing water. Someone has opened a sluicegate, allowing all the precious liquid to drain into the dirt. When Twister and Chuckaluck close the gate and the roaring stops, a woman screams, "Don't let him get away! He was going to kill me!" Chuckaluck fires wildly, but the scoundrel has escaped, setting the wandering cowpokes on the trail of a mystery so dark and twisted it might be beyond their powers to solve. Murder on the Mesa is the 4th book in the...

On the trail to New Mexico, Pat Stevens and his friends Sam and Ezra risk their lives to fulfill a dying man's last wish Two men ride across the desert. One is young, nearly mad with thirst and fear. The other is stalwart—a blue-eyed legend who doesn't panic at the sight of a hanging posse on their trail. He asks no questions of the young man whose life he's agreed to save. He simply rides. It has been fifteen years since a youthful Pat Stevens, wrongfully accused of stealing horses, placed his life in the hands of the legendary Mose Higgins. Since then, Pat has settled in Powder Valley and hung up his guns to run his ranch and raise his family. One day, a strange letter comes from New Mexico. Someone has threatened Mose's life, and only Pat can rescue him and his innocent little girl. Pat owes Mose a priceless debt—and it can only be paid in blood.

Twister and Chuckaluck spring into action to keep an elderly widow from being run off her land Twister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson are making their way through a West Texas canyon when they smell death. It pollutes every inch of the winding, narrow trail, so thick and foul they fear they might choke. Finally, the two wandering cowpokes emerge onto the mesa, where they encounter the site of a massacre. A whole family of deer lies dead around a small pond, their skeletons bleached by the Texas sun. Someone has poisoned the water hole. Then a rider comes around the corner, rifle in hand, and gets the drop on Twister and Chuckaluck. The Widow Kelso is a hardened old woman, and she's ready to kill. Someone has been trying to drive her off her land, and if Twister and Chuckaluck don't solve the mystery of the poisoned well fast, the deer won't be the only ones lying dead in the sun. Lynch-Rope Law is the 3rd book in the Twister and...

An all-star gang of villains descends on peaceful Powder Valley On a tawdry street in the heart of Denver, men crowd into the saloon for two reasons: cheap whiskey and Connie Dawson. The loveliest singer in Colorado, Connie has a golden voice and a brassy personality, but along with a crooked preacher, a hotshot gambler, and the fastest gunman in town, she's about to find herself in a whole lot of trouble. All four owe the sinister Judge Prink a favor—and he's ready to collect. Prink has recently discovered the idyllic township of Powder Valley, home to Sheriff Pat Stevens and his faithful friends Sam and Ezra, and declared it ripe for the picking. With the help of his indentured gang of miscreants, he plans to strip the innocent little community bare. But when he meets Powder Valley's courageous trio, Prink comes face to face with the law of the gun.

Three years after he was run out of town, the Rio Kid returns home to find a community in desperate need of his gunslinging skills Three years ago, the sheriff of Chapparell, Arizona, was shot dead. Eighteen-year-old Hugh Aiken was falsely accused of the murder and forced to ride south with a lynch mob hot on his trail. He spent the time since hiding out in Mexico, growing from a fresh-faced Texas youth into the hardened gunman known far and wide as the Rio Kid. Now his exile is over. Chapparell has changed since the Kid last set foot on its dusty streets. Most of the ranchers are dead broke, save for one bloodthirsty scoundrel, Henry Pelham, who backs up his business savvy with hired guns. To clear his name and save his hometown, the Rio Kid must undertake his most dangerous adventure yet. Two-Gun Rio Kid is the 4th book in the Rio Kid Adventures, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

To save his wife's closest friend, Sheriff Pat Stevens—with the help of his trusty friends Sam and Ezra—pursues a gang of masked gunmen Sheriff Pat Stevens should be the happiest man in Powder Valley. He has a thriving ranch, a healthy son, and the prettiest wife in Colorado. After a shootout with a gang of outlaws nearly cost him his life, he promised Sally he would hang his guns up for good. But trouble is coming to the Valley, and Pat can feel his trigger finger starting to itch. In nearby Dusty Canyon, a troop of hooded killers menaces the honest miners who toil in the local goldmines. The local sheriff has already been wounded once trying to stop them, but he continues the fight—and begs for Pat's help. At first, Pat resists the urge to join the fray, but when Sally's closest friend is put in the line of fire, he has no choice but to ask his loyal sidekicks, Sam and Ezra, to ride into battle with him once more.

Mike Shayne has 24 hours to find out the truth and save a man from death row 3 years ago, Miami Chief of Detectives Peter Painter made the greatest arrest of his career—one that led to Sam Harris being put on death row for killing Rose Heminway's husband. So when Harris's wife discovers evidence that she believes could save her husband's life, Painter does what any corrupt cop would: He sits on the evidence, waiting for the electric chair to do its work. Finally, Mrs. Harris has no choice. She contacts Heminway, who was never fully convinced of Sam's guilt, though she testified against him, and they take the final course of action of desperate women across Miami: They hire Mike Shayne. The most daring detective in the United States, Shayne has just 24 hours to clear Harris's name, or an innocent man will fry. Saving Harris will mean the wrath of the entire Miami police department, but Shayne isn't worried. He's tougher than any electric chair.

A mysterious woman draws Mike Shayne into a twisted murder plot The call comes just as Mike Shayne is pouring a much-needed cognac. A gangster's voice warns, "Stay away from Wanda Weatherby." Simple enough—except that Shayne has never heard of any woman by that name. A few minutes later, he receives another call, from a woman desperately worried about Wanda Weatherby. A third call then comes in from the woman herself: Wanda Weatherby begs Mike Shayne to save her life. He drives to her apartment, hoping that she'll be able to explain just what is going on, but he's too late. Wanda Weatherby is dead. Just who she was, and why every criminal in Miami seemed to know her name, will take some figuring out. By the time he's done with this mystery, Mike Shayne will wish he had never picked up the phone.