This novel is set around Fort Smith, Arkansas, in the time around the Civil War. I bought it because I've been looking into my family there at that time, even though I wondered if the local author might not be so polished.
In fact, it turned out to be better than the last more publicized and popularized book, The Mountain Between Us, which I'm still convinced was somehow subsidized by right-wingers who think a woman is of value primarily as an incubator.
The one woman in this book is mostly just pretty and helpless, but the story has merit. It's an old western like we used to see, kind of a Gunsmoke plot. I'd rather watch a movie of this one than that other one. Okay, I hardly ever go to the movies, but I am saying the book creates very visual images, the characters aren't flat, and the story is not totally predictable.
I should have put it on my Kindle, for half the price, but before reading it, I thought it might have been something to pass along. It would almost be a good young adult selection except that the two murders are a little grisly, and dang, have the girl throw a rock or something!
