Deadwood Dick Library, Vol. V, No. 53

This catalog issue from March 14, 1900 (No. 53, Vol. V of the Half-Dime Library) features Edward L. Wheeler's Denver Doll's Device: The Detective Queen, serialized fiction continuing his Deadwood Dick, Jr. novel series. The main narrative follows four prospectors—Walt, a Black man with keen instincts; Yakie, a Dutchman; Chug, a Chinese man; and Tom Jarvis, a prisoner suspected of gang affiliation—camped in a remote gulch. Walt investigates a child's cries and discovers a murdered woman and a young girl. Denver Doll, a skilled female detective working to dismantle outlaw leader McParland's gang, arrives at camp with Jarvis in custody. The issue includes a substantial backlist of Wheeler's Deadwood Dick, Jr. titles, each issue priced at five cents.