Cherokee Trail

When Major M. O. Breydon is gunned down in Julesberg by the gang of guerrilla leader Jason Flandrau, his widow Mary takes over the Major's pickup job at the god-forsaken Cherokee Station for stages going on into Denver, Colorado. Soon, then, driving off villainous stationkeeper Scant Luther with a horsewhip, Mary has the finest station stop on the line - with help from daughter Peg, Irish cook Matty, orphan stableboy War, and handsome Temple Boone and old Ridge Fenton as hostlers. And it's not long before she discovers that Jason Flandrau is now situated nearby and hoping to run for governor, if he can get the backing of powerful Preston Collier. Mary's out to undo Flandrau, of course; he knows it. So hired killers are promptly dispatched, and Mary must fend them off, shooting Scant Luther herself with a derringer in a showdown. Finally, when she hears of a forthcoming stage robbery of a gold shipment, Mary sees through misinformation laid down by the robbers and organizes a resistance that nets the whole band of robbers. Obvious plotting - but there's fast action, with comfy food and warmth provided by Mary's nesting instinct: minor, easy-to-take L'Amour, seemingly designed to reach the female-West readership. (Simultaneous mass-market paperback publication.) (Kirkus Reviews)