The Cloak & Dagger Literary Society @ Sharon Public Library
July 2017: Away Out West
"People are reading mysteries from just about any time period you can name. Except one. Nobody's reading mysteries set in America's Wild West. Which is strange because, as Erle Stanley Gardner said in his introduction to the Triple-A Western Classics 1950 edition of The Hangmen of Sleepy Valley, by Davis Dresser (aka Brett Halliday), 'the modern detective story and the modern Western have a great deal in common. ... In essence both kinds of stories are American products, like corn on the cob and blueberry pie. [I]t is not surprising that the [mystery and the Western story] should go so well in combination. ... There is, to be sure, a certain element of mystery in the majority of Westerns.' Well, if not mystery, then certainly crime fiction. After all, what are Westerns about? Murder, extortion, robbery (banks, stagecoaches, trains, Wells Fargo offices, you name it), kidnapping and rustling, that's what. And of course they are about the stranger who comes into the corrupt town and cleans it up..."
A list of mystery authors whose books or series take place in a Western setting begins on the right and continues at the bottom of the newsletter. Clicking on the author's name will bring you to their biography, while clicking on a series or character link will bring you to a bibliography of books. Happy mystery reading!
Upcoming Newsletter Releases
AUGUST Four-Footed Gumshoes:
Animal Detectives
SEPTEMBER With a Little Help from My Friends:
The Detective Sidekick
It's certain that, while compiling my list, I missed authors of note who fits this category. Please email me if you see any glaring omissions and I will add the author(s) in question, so that future readers will be informed!
The Cloak & Dagger Literary Society
[email protected] | 781-784-1578 x1422
