The Marshal and the Mystical Mountain

by C. M. Wendelboe

Overview

"U.S. marshal Nelson Lane has more than his fair share of unlikely allies: This time it's a tabloid reporter--who turns up missing after he tries to sneak into the Mystical Mountain hunting lodge. Nestled in the rugged and scenic Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, there's more than mere hunting going on there. Nelson sends his deputy, Maris Red Hat, as an undercover courtesan to find out what's up with the wild parties for politicians, celebrities, and gangsters. Even as the lodge caretaker appears to cooperate with the investigation, the women entertaining the guests keep winding up dead. Every time Nelson closes in on the truth, he is ambushed and left for dead. Finally, he sneaks into the resort, only to be saved by an old foe he's been hunting for years. When at last Nelson discovers the dark secret of the lodge, the Mystical Mountain may claim yet another victim"--

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781432868369
Publisher:	Gale, A Cengage Company
Publication date:	03/18/2020
Series:	A Nelson Lane Frontier Mystery , #3
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Editorial Reviews

2019-12-25
Retired lawman Wendelboe's second tale of an introspective Depression-era U.S. Marshal trying to keep the peace in Wyoming.

Nelson Lane (The Marshal and the Moonshiner, 2018) isn't much interested in catching bootleggers or foreclosing on ranchers down on their luck. But he does agree to look for a missing man at the behest of his friend Yancy Stands Close. Yancy's current squeeze, Sally Maddis, has misplaced her brother, Jesse, a freelance journalist who went to the Mystical Mountain Hunting Lodge in search of a story. The lodge, which provides prime hunting parties for rich and famous men from movie stars to gangsters, could presumably supply plenty of fodder for a muckraker like Jesse. Lane's attempt to interview manager Weston Myers is disrupted by lodge security, a nasty group of toughs that includes May Doherty, who admits tossing Jesse off the property but claims not to have seen him since. Sally reveals that she works up at the lodge almost every weekend entertaining wealthy men who have little interest in hunting and fishing. Although fearful of flying, Lane gets Henry Banks to take him up in his plane so he can search the property for Jesse. Sure enough, he spots Jesse's jacket and, after landing, finds his badly beaten body and picks up a few rolls of film before security shows up. When Weston arrives, he seems shocked to see the body. Sheriff Clements enjoys so many perks from Weston that he has zero interest in helping Lane, who must also contend with Dan Dan Uster, a wanted killer hiding on the property. The discovery that several women have been murdered and buried on the property prompts Lane to risk his life and that of his deputy, who poses as a good-time girl, and uncover the truth.

Thrills aplenty as the cunning Marshal displays the survival skills he learned in the trenches of the Great War.

Kirkus Reviews