Monte Hale Western #82

When a carnival con artist palms off fool's gold on a desperate man named Sandy, the mark finds himself trapped between losing his money and risking jail if he reports the crime to the law. Monte Hale, having just hung up his deputy's badge, stumbles onto Sandy's scheme and decides to track down the slippery swindler before the carnival leaves town for good. What begins as a personal debt becomes a hunt through the carnival grounds that tests Monte's wits and determination to set things right.

Bronko Betsy shows off her schooling when a stranger quizzes her on the meaning of "spunk"—with hilariously unexpected results. Old Slick then gets his own turn to puzzle over the difference between a cow's skin and a calf's skin, delivering a groaner of a punchline that'll have young readers groaning right along.

When a dying ranch foreman asks Mr. Doone to adopt his orphaned son Sam, the landowner agrees—but his own son Jackie refuses to treat his new "brother" as anything more than a hired hand's kid. Years later, Jackie's desperation drives him into a dangerous gambler's den, and when a confrontation turns deadly, Sam makes a shocking decision to protect his ungrateful brother by taking the fall. Monte Hale must uncover the truth behind a murder that threatens to destroy the Doone family and expose a counterfeiting operation that reaches far deeper than anyone suspects.

Jawbone Jeffers, the celebrated deputy of Hoof and Saddle Territory, becomes the unlikely hero of young Nero when the boy witnesses him take on the formidable Fierce Fred Pierce in a one-armed brawl—but Nero's admiration sets off a chain of events that puts the Express Company's gold shipment in jeopardy. As criminals exploit the chaos to make their move, Jawbone must live up to the legend that inspires his small-town fan.

When Bronco Betsy struggles with her pronunciation lesson, adding an unexpected sound to a simple sentence sends the whole classroom into chaos. Meanwhile, a cowboy seeking the perfect dance partner gets some hilariously backhanded advice from Old Slick about where to find true beauty.

Monte Hale takes shelter from a brewing storm at the Hillside Inn, where he's drawn into an urgent mystery when a man in a wheelchair slips him a desperate note claiming to be held captive for ransom. What begins as a rescue mission takes a sharp turn when Monte discovers the truth about his unlikely prisoner and must track him down before the situation spirals further out of control.