John D. Nesbitt Books

Dunbar, working on a ranch in the Niobrara country in Wyoming, connects the death of a hardscrabble homesteader with the death of an old horse trader some fifteen years earlier. As Dunbar goes to work on a corral project in town and then on fall roundup, more murders take place. People who know too much are being silenced. An old woman named Verona tells of an ancient crime on Old Woman Creek, where a sheepherder was killed and his partner escaped. Dunbar brings forth the witnesses, and a showdown erupts, with Dunbar bringing justice to the Niobrara country.

"Double Deceit" by John D. Nesbitt A man named Dunbar comes to Temple Basin where he goes to work for an old rancher who is laid up with a broken leg. The ranchers granddaughter tells the story. After one man turns up dead and another man is known to have gone missing, it becomes known that Dunbar has come on a mission to find a killer and bring him to justice. "Scarecrows" by Jim Jones Tommy Stallings hears his aunt and uncle in Texas are in trouble. He and his cousin, Rusty, leave the New Mexico Territory and head east. Cattle rustlers are terrorizing small ranchers in the Texas Panhandle and his Aunt Martha insists they look like "scarecrows" because of the canvas bags they wear to hide their faces. Tommy and Rusty join forces with Bill Slaughter, agent for the Stock-Raisers Association of North-West Texas, to investigate the rash of crimes. "Cold the Bitter Heart" by Phil Mills, Jr. A child's personality often mirrors that of a parent. Could it be Catherine Baxter was hiding behind a façade of fake innocence? Although Jake Summers would follow a trail littered with suspects had he missed the most obvious one and in the end did he really know the truth? "Wind in His Face" by Larry D. Sweazy Scrap Elliot, a veteran Texas Ranger of the original Frontier Battalion is on an important courier mission when he encounters an old flame in Waco, Texas. When the woman's husband dies in front of Scrap, the old flame disappears. That sets Scrap on a mission to find the woman and prove to the local sheriff that he was nothing more than an innocent bystander, not a cold-blooded killer"-- Provided by publisher

"An aspiring Ohio transplant's dream of owning his own spread in turn-of-the-century Wyoming is put on hold due to a series of inconvenient murders. Earl Miner, who owns the Pick, makes no bones about insisting that every man who works for him file a claim to 160 acres under the Homestead Act and then sell it to him so he won't be troubled by competing ranchers in the Decker Basin. As soon as cowpuncher Reese Hartley bridles at that arrangement, foreman Dick Prentiss gives him his walking papers, and Hartley packs his gear. Lacking any particular plan or destination, Hartley wanders off, encountering what seems to be virtually every woman in town: Pick hand Ben Stillwell's sweetheart, Bess Ackerman, niece of grain broker Mike Ackerman; Muriel Dulse, a grass widow who also dreams of owning a place despite the tight rein Doyle Treece and the Hudson family, the cousins with whom she lives, keep on her; and Nancy Wisner, a young and flirtatious cousin of the Hudsons. As Nesbitt (Dusk Along the Niobrara, 2019, etc.) shows, however, his most fraught encounters are with aggressive local men who challenge his plan to secure his own land, get physical with him, and invite him to get out of town. While Hartley, who's a good deal less confrontational than either his adversaries or most Western heroes, is still pondering what to do next, Ben Stillwell vanishes and then turns up choked to death, followed by Nancy Wisner. When Treece accuses Blue, a mysterious newcomer to the community, of killing Nancy, blacksmith/marshal Jock Mosby arrests and jails him, but Hartley doesn't think that's the end of the story, and of course he's right. The slight mystery offers a handy peg for Nesbitt's latest valentine to the Wyoming frontier he clearly loves"-- Provided by publisher

" For a quarter of a century, Five Star Publishing, an imprint of Gale/Cengage, has offered readers the best in new voices, as well as many beloved authors, in the traditional Western and American frontier fiction genres. Hobnail and Other Frontier Stories, edited by Hazel Rumney, features seventeen brand-new stories that will delight historical fiction fans. These stories capture the spirit of freedom and individualism in the evolving 19th century American frontier. These epic narratives are organized by timeframe to offer readers a panoramic view of pioneers who faced life-changing challenges in settings that are in stark contrast to civilized society. Ranging from high-action traditional Westerns to introspective historical dramas set in the American West, readers will discover previously untold stories about the tenacious individuals who shaped the iconic American West. In this anthology, you'll enjoy stories by New York Times bestselling and award-winning authors such as Loren D. Estleman, Johnny D. Boggs, Rod Miller, Patrick Dearen, John D. Nesbitt, W. Michael Farmer, Richard Prosch, Harper Courtland, James D. Crownover, Vonn McKee, Paul Colt, L. J. Martin, Greg Hunt, Wallace J. Swenson, John Neely Davis, Lonnie Whitaker, Steven Howell Wilson. Hobnail and Other Frontier Stories is a great addition to your Western fiction library. "

"Seventeen-year-old Wilsey Grant is on his own when he meets a traveler on foot. The two arrive in the town of Silver Grass, where the other man finds work washing dishes. Wilsey goes out to look for work and meets an indentured servant girl, an orphan like himself. Before long, the fellow traveler turns up dead. Wilsey goes to work at the nearby Emerald Peaks Ranch, where he hears of ranch hands terrorizing the settlers, and he witnesses the shooting of a homesteader boy. Wilsey shares his knowledge with the deputy sheriff, who arrests a ranch hand. Next, the owner of the Emerald Peaks Ranch leads an entourage of ranch hands and gunmen into town, where they kidnap a girl and offer to trade her for the prisoner. When the deputy turns down the offer, two henchmen shoot him and spring the prisoner. While the deputy is recovering, the Emerald Peaks marauders return to town and set a couple of buildings on fire. Two of the attackers are killed, but the main antagonists are still on the loose. Back on his feet, the deputy is able to put together a group of supporters, and they set out toward the ranch, where they have a series of encounters by gunfight. At the end of the story, Wilsey meets again with the indentured orphan girl and tells her that when she has fulfilled the terms of her service, he will help her look for her sister"--