Silver Creek
By A H Holt 

     John Garrett returns home after an absence of six years when he learns that his father is in trouble. One neighbor has been murdered and another has had cattle rustled, while Garrett cattle are mysteriously grazing the dead man's land. But John gets into trouble on his way home, after coming into a poor town and being provoked into shooting a young bully. Running away from the posse, he gets shot and left for dead, but is found by a young man and taken to a cabin not far from his father's ranch. The first things he finds on coming home are that his rescuer is actually a girl, and his father seems to have left running things to the dreadful Rafe Willis. Can John get to the bottom of things before they get any worse?

     This is the sort of Western that would have made a first-rate film, and actually makes a first-rate book. A generous dollop of mystery, a handsome cowboy and some low-key romance are the ingredients that go to make a winning recipe in this pacy book. This is the author's first book, but there is a good sense of background, exciting-but-believable adventure and some lightly drawn but instantly appealing characters (as well as some shady villains). This is the sort of Western that will appeal to both sexes, and I do hope that there are more to follow. I really do recommend this novel.