Blurb
A new bride faces questions about her marriage in the shadow of a prairie blizzard.
A minister’s decision to raise sheep in cattle country stirs up controversy among his new congregation.
A spunky ranch girl matches wits with a thief.
A World War II veteran struggles with wartime scars while assuming the responsibilities of the family ranch.
And in the title story, a man is found shot beside a branding fire and a young rancher is accused of murder—but what crime was really committed there?
If you enjoy classic Western short stories in the tradition of Dorothy M. Johnson, Elmer Kelton, and Louis L’Amour, you’ll love these seven stories capturing the grit, gumption, and buoyant spirit of the Old West.
My Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎
I haven’t read much of Elisabeth Grace Foley’s works—unfortunately!—but I’ve read enough to know I’d love this… and I was right! It was the perfect mixture of expected and unexpected, humour and spirituality, depth and lightness.
Dakota Clothesline – 1900s Dakotas
4.5 stars. This was one of the unexpected stories! To be honest, I’m not a fan of marriage-of-convenience, but this was well done (reminiscent of Love Comes Softly ). Jonas was awesome, and I really liked Charlotte, and the classic winter blizzard was a great touch! Very The Long Winter -ish.
Once in her life she had known the experience of strong emotions, had known what it was to thrill, to be eager and passionate and vitally alive; but that was all in the past and it wouldn’t happen again. She had folded all that up and laid it away like an old garment, and found she could go on living and breathing and being content without it.
The Heiress & the Horse-Trade – 1890s New Mexico
5 stars. Ah, this was more along the lines of the Foley stories I know and love! It was pure delight from start to finish. Such sarcasm! Such humour! Cornelia was a hoot and I loved seeing Thad and the other guys scrambling after her brains. And Glendy Burke was the perfect accidental sidekick. 😉 But my favourite part was this:
“[They] found the captive outlaw sitting in the Summerfields’ kitchen, not the man he once was. Thad was sitting astride a chair with the shotgun leveled over the back of it at his prisoner, but it had less to do with that and more to do with the fact that he had been studied intensely for the better part of an hour by three small children crowded together on a bench on the other side of the kitchen table, an experience that few men come through unchanged.”
TRUTH.
Sheep Need a Shepherd – 1900s Montana
5+ stars. Another unexpected, and another one I really, really loved! A pastor-shepherd going against a neighbourhood of ornery cowboys, one being very influential and very bullying in his ways. Donald was SPLENDID—so authentic, so human, and so temperate. Marguerite was the perfect helpmeet for him. I admired Mrs. Glenn immensely, and in the end couldn’t help liking Henry and Terry… I had no idea how this would end and I was hooked by the story, but also touched by the message. Excellently done.
”I’ve got to simply be who I am, in church and outside it. If anybody expects me to adapt my preaching for ‘wild Westerners’—whatever that means—they’ll have to be disappointed. That’s one thing I never want to find myself doing, Marguerite: trying to tweak or tamper with the message in order to ingratiate or impress anyone. If there’s one thing I’ve been convinced of—maybe believed more strongly than anything else, ever since I first felt called to preach—it’s just that one thing: the gospel is sufficient. If I ever tried to preach in any way apart from that, I wouldn’t be any good for anything.”
Professor Pruitt’s Circulating Concert Company – 1890s, somewhere in the middle West
5+ stars. YUSSSSS, pure comedy!!! This reminded me of the Goldwater Ridge duology for some reason. I. loved. it. I don’t even know what to say besides that it was just plain hilarious. Poor Joe… he really had one wild ride. Just read this, okay? It was side-splitting. I have no other words…
I don’t think it quite fair to blame the sheriff for anything that happened, because when you’re out looking for bank robbers and you come upon a man stuffing greenbacks into a gunnysack by the handfuls, it’s only natural you stop and ask him how he came by them. The Professor didn’t take that kindly. He insisted that the money was his own life savings, the money he’d put by a little at a time after each show[.] The trouble was, without his teeth in and when excited he was hard to understand, and the sheriff not knowing the speech as well as the Company did he was more than suspicious.… It was Mrs. Pruitt who saved the situation. She didn’t bother trying to argue with the sheriff; she just hurried off to get something from the red wagon and came back and tugged at the Professor’s arm until she got his attention and told him to put his teeth in, and practically forced them into his mouth herself. The Professor’s diction suddenly came clear (one of the possemen almost fell over with surprise), and he made the speech about his life savings over again without being interrupted, and wound up by saying he was going to put them away in the wagon now and would everybody who didn’t belong to the Company please go away.
“But a bank’s been robbed,” said the sheriff.
“What’s that to me?” said the Professor. “I didn’t do it.”
The sheriff explained to him how circumstantial evidence happened to even the most respectable people (Tim agreed with him heartily about that)[.]The Professor said that he wouldn’t have his wife and daughter going back to town in chains, and the sheriff said testily that he had no intention of putting chains on any lady. Mrs. Pruitt explained what Jasper meant was that no member of the Circulating Concert Company had ever been arrested (though she couldn’t speak for what had happened to a couple performers who’d quit suddenly after they had left[.].
Lark’s Nest – 1860s Texas
5 stars. Of all the sweet, heart-tugging, soul-touching stories… The reality in this story almost brought me to tears. It can be so hard to keep life—and the home—pretty and try to instil manners and culture into one’s children and/or younger siblings. I related to Alice so much and she was such a great character. The message here was just amazing.
it dawned upon Alice that one reason, at least, why she missed the pretty things of their old house was because to her those things had spelled home. She wanted the boys to have that same sense of home and belonging she had had as a child, and her striving to add the little touches that enriched life to the plain log house in the Texas brush was part of her trying to make it for them. Home was meant to be more than a roof to sleep under in the intervals of laboring for your bread—it was a place that fed you, taught you, strengthened you, welcomed you with open arms—a place you wanted to be. It was the thing you labored for.
Big Aspen – 1940s Wyoming
5 stars. Boy, I loved this. You don’t often get to see WWII Westerns, and the PTSD angle was superbly handled. Also, I loved the part about taking back the ranch and realizing Dan had grown up, and letting him be a man… and how Rex’s handicap didn’t break him as much as he thought. So many deep thoughts here. (Contains mild language)
As they turned their glances crossed. It was a new look from Dan: head up, eyes clear and direct, as if he too had just had a fight and won it. And Rex understood. Far from being disappointed in his brother’s weakness, for a moment Dan had been able to feel himself the strongest man in the situation, had helped to see it through, and had grown almost visibly in confidence with that feeling.
The Smoking Iron – 1880s New Mexico
5 stars. A cowboy whodunit, with plenty of humour but not a comedy. I admit I struggled to keep up with the explanation and final reveal—I’m not a cowgirl and got dreadfully mixed up about what was happening. But despite all that I hugely enjoyed the adventure, and the characters. Owen was my favourite, reminding me as he did of one of my favourite fictional sheriffs ever, Larry from the 1949 “Cover Up,” one of my favourite films (also a mystery!); but I also really liked and respected Dell, and Milt + Bud were a great team.
“Dwight Harrington, St. Louis upperclassman and his Uncle Tom’s millstone-about-the-neck during his summer vacations, was the only man in that roundup camp ignorant enough about cattle to overlook one important thing[.]”
“Jupiter!” said Bud Cramer.
“It’s ‘Eureka’ he’s after,” said McCreath. “I think I’m following you now. Go on.”
*I received a complimentary copy of this book for promotional purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*
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About the Author:
Elisabeth Grace Foley has been an insatiable reader and eager history buff ever since she learned to read, has been scribbling stories ever since she learned to write, and now combines those loves in writing historical fiction. She has been twice nominated for the Western Fictioneers’ Peacemaker Award, and her historical mystery novel Land of Hills & Valleys was voted into the top ten of Readfree.ly’s 50 Best Indie Books of 2021. When not reading or writing, she enjoys spending time outdoors, music, crocheting, and watching sports and old movies. She lives in upstate New York with her family and the world’s best German Shepherd.
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