Book picks similar to
Grand Canyon Thunder by Gary McCarthy


historical-mystery
western
wilderness-fiction
historical-fiction

The Wrecking Storm (Thomas Tallant, #2)


Michael Ward - 2021
    

Fires of Alexandria


Thomas K. Carpenter - 2011
    One hundred years later, Heron of Alexandria--the city's most renowned inventor and creator of Temple miracles--receives coin from a mysterious patron to investigate the crime. Desperate to be free of the debts incurred by her twin brother, she accepts and sets in motion a chain of events that will shake the Roman Empire and change the course of history forever.

Death Riddle


Maureen Ash - 2015
    But William’s recent death has once again plunged the island kingdom into war as his two eldest sons strive against each other for the right to wear their father’s crown. The town of Rochester is at the centre of the conflict and, while the battle rages, two men, one a Norman soldier and the other a local pig farmer, are brutally murdered. Godric, a young Englishman, is blamed for the slayings but manages to escape arrest by fleeing to the cathedral where, proclaiming his innocence, he claims sanctuary. Estrid, his widowed mother, is desperate to save her son but the only way to exonerate him is to discover the identity of the true murderer. Daughter of an English thegn killed at the Battle of Hastings, she is a woman of courage and determination but, when she begins to investigate the crime, she soon becomes entangled in a web of espionage, deceit and betrayal that places her own life in danger.

Running Eagle, the Warrior Girl


James Willard Schultz - 1919
    Schultz was a noted author, explorer, Glacier National Park guide, fur trader and historian of the Blackfoot Indians. While operating a fur trading post at Carroll, Montana and living amongst the Pikuni tribe during the period 1880-82, he was given the name "Apikuni" by the Pikuni chief, Running Crane. Schultz is most noted for his prolific stories about Blackfoot life and his contributions to the naming of prominent features in Glacier National Park. Story of a maiden warrior of the Blackfoot tribe. The story of an Indian girl who became the acknowledged leader of her tribe. As a little girl Otaki asked for bows and arrows rather than for dolls. Her father, who loved her dearly, indulged her in her wishes. and taught her to hunt like a boy. When both father and mother were taken by death, she again turned back to the hunting, providing the game for her brothers and sisters and following the war path to avenge her father's death. Disapproval of her course finally gives way and she is highly honored by her tribe, and like the young men who prove themselves worthy, she is given a warrior's name. Running Eagle. This book originally published by Houghton Mifflin in 1919 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting.

The Cedar


Carmen Butler - 2016
    A story that is at times heartwarming, at others heartbreaking, we are introduced to generations of the Bodes family and those close to them as they struggle against enemies, the challenges of the new world, and personal conflict.

Cowboys and Calico


Kirsten Osbourne - 2016
    She knew Emily's childhood would be over before she realized it, so she responded to an ad for a mail-order bride, hoping for a better future for them both. Dr. Wesley Hardy needed a wife to complete him, so he sent a letter to a mail-order bride agency back East. When he received a letter from a widow with a young daughter, he was thrilled with everything but her profession. Could he live with the fact that his new bride was a midwife? Or would they be destined to live without love for the rest of their days? A BROKEN WING by Amelia C. Adams - Bored beyond all reason while riding a train from Missouri to Colorado, Trinity Scott amuses herself by imagining things about the passengers around her, including the handsome man sitting across the aisle. With his dark curly hair and warm brown eyes, he’s certainly intriguing, and the fact that his arm is in a sling makes him all the more a curiosity. But when three dangerous men board the train, her desire for adventure and excitement takes a sinister turn, and she must call on her inner strength to do what’s needed to survive. THE MARSHAL’S REBELLIOUS BRIDE by Cassie Hayes - U.S. Marshal Curtis ‘Griff’ Griffith is on the trail of a wanted man. The last thing he needs is to be distracted by the newest resident of the Dalton Brothers Ranch. So why does he keep returning? It’s certainly not to see the beautiful-but-bullheaded Catherine James. Catherine has no interest in men or marriage, but there aren’t many choices for single ladies to earn a living on a remote Texas ranch. When she discovers that she holds the key to capturing the outlaw — and collecting some of the reward — she doesn’t hesitate to force Griff’s hand. Will they kill each other before they find the murderer, or will they risk their damaged hearts for a shot at a new life? COURTING MISS CARTWRIGHT by Kristin Holt - Courtship, by the book, is supposed to be easy… As the daughter of an unwed mother, Felicity Percival is accustomed to rejection. Her mother was her only family ... until she is summoned to the reading of her father's will. To learn he was a married preacher with a second daughter horrifies her. The stipulations attached to her inheritance infuriate her. The last thing she expects is the emergence of truths that destroy her life-long beliefs. The last thing she wants is to feel the blush of first love for a man she can't have. The road to Happily Ever After should not be rocky, especially for level-headed, rule-following Rocky Gideon. His courtship of the minister’s daughter is successful and on track, surviving everything life throws at them … except the appearance of the preacher’s other daughter. Felicity asks too many questions, forces him to evaluate his carefully constructed plan, and somehow steals his heart. Rocky desperately needs a solid marriage that will go the distance … so why does he yearn for the wrong sister? WANTED: THE PERFECT HUSBAND by Margery Scott - Sybil Franklin needs a husband—fast! In order to keep her ranch, she must be married within thirteen days. Devin McGregor meets all her requirements and comes highly recommended, but he has no interest in marriage. Devin McGregor had a ranch once, a fiancée, a future. He made a mistake, and it cost him everything.

Bridge of Sighs: A Short Story of the Bubonic Plague


Laura Morelli - 2016
    But as the Black Death reaches its hand into his uncle’s workshop, young Tonino is faced with making a choice to survive. From the author of THE GONDOLA MAKER and MADE IN VENICE comes a short tale of pestilence, Venetian artisanship, and the will to live.

These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901


Nancy E. Turner - 1998
    Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon—from child to determined young adult to loving mother—she shares the turbulent events, both joyous and tragic, that molded her, and recalls the enduring love with cavalry officer Captain Jack Elliot that gave her strength and purpose.Rich in authentic everyday details and alive with truly unforgettable characters, These Is My Words brilliantly brings a vanished world to breathtaking life again.

Vine Street


Dominic Nolan - 2021
    SOHO, 1935.SERGEANT LEON GEATS' PATCH.A snarling, skull-cracking misanthrope, Geats marshals the grimy rabble according to his own elastic moral code.The narrow alleys are brimming with jazz bars, bookies, blackshirts, ponces and tarts so when a body is found above the Windmill Club, detectives are content to dismiss the case as just another young woman who topped herself early.But Geats - a good man prepared to be a bad one if it keeps the worst of them at bay - knows the dark seams of the city.Working with his former partner, mercenary Flying Squad sergeant Mark Cassar, Geats obsessively dedicates himself to finding a warped killer - a decision that will reverberate for a lifetime and transform both men in ways they could never expect.

Mayan Star


Howard Allan - 2018
    What we don’t know is why. Excavations at a recently discovered Mayan site near Valladolid in the Yucatan unearth a codex – the first to be discovered in over 50 years. A mangled body is found among the ruins. It belongs to Father Colvin McNeery, an expert on the Gospel of Matthew, the only Gospel to mention the Star of Bethlehem. The local police say he was killed by a jaguar. Dr. Isabel Reyes, renegade daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Mexico, is called away from her clinic to issue a death certificate. She wonders, when she sees the claw marks, what sort of jaguar is left-handed? Ex-rabbi and scholar Simon Press has just seen another of his controversial lectures on the spread of Christianity end in violence. He’s back at his hotel nursing a scotch when he gets the news that his friend and colleague, Colvin McNeery, is dead in the Yucatan. Press has always been resentful of Christianity’s success; what he finds in McNeery’s translation of the codex will allow him to get even. Detective First Class Benito Rufino of the Antiquities Police is pulled off a sting he’s spent nine months setting up, and ordered to Valladolid. He’s furious until he finds out why: a codex worth $500 million pesos is missing. Leon Cortes - devout Catholic and a direct descendant of the Conquistador - has become drug overlord for all of the Yucatan because he believes his faith requires him to mortify his soul as his Savior mortified his body. Now he’s ordered by the Vatican to find the codex and send it to them. The 1500 year old codex contains an account of a holy man, a savior who is born under a bright star to a virgin, performs miracles, dies a horrible death, and is resurrected. If McNeery’s translation of the codex is correct, then something is radically wrong with the conventional accounts of the European discovery of the Americas. Or - and this is the only other possibility - something is radically wrong with Christianity’s notion of itself. Mayan Star is mystery/thriller with a Borgesian twist.

The Carson Brothers of Kansas


Carré White - 2015
     Desperate for grandbabies and cursed with four wayward sons, Maggie Carson concocts a scheme to impersonate them in letters sent back east for mail order brides. Charlie Rebecca Hart is the first ensnared, romanced by sweet words, poetry, and the promise of a new life. When she arrives in Topeka, she is eager to marry the man she thought she had come to admire, but the groom, Grant Carson, is nowhere to be found. It is his younger brother, Charlie, who greets her at the train station. Charlie is appalled after discovering his mother’s deception, yet jealous that Rebecca is meant for his older brother, who, in his estimation, does not deserve her. Grant reluctantly makes an effort to romance Rebecca, but his heart is elsewhere, as he is involved with a married woman in town. Rebecca and Charlie find themselves thrown together often, and a friendship emerges. An unexpected kiss confuses Rebecca, and she questions if it is Grant she really wants. Bronson Fleeing from an abusive marriage, Charlotte Mills and her five-year-old son, Dudley, travel to Kansas in the hope of securing a better future. While on the train to Topeka, the passengers are robbed by a band of outlaws. In the midst of the chaos, one of the bandits, a tall, rugged man in a bandana, shamelessly steals her last ten dollars. Injured after a robbery, Bronson Carson is forced to return to the Carson Ranch to recuperate. His mother has once again schemed to find a wife for his younger brother, Grant, having brought in a woman from back east. But there is something about Charlotte that catches his eye, as she nurses him to health. Falling in love was the last thing he expected or wanted, preferring to live wild and unencumbered. As the blonde with the sweet smile softens his heart, he finds himself in a quandary. His lifestyle as a hardened criminal is hardly appropriate for a woman and her son, but his feelings will not be denied. The past is never far behind, and Charlotte’s day of reckoning is at hand. Her husband has found her, and he is not a forgiving sort of man. Wyatt Hired for a cattle drive, Wyatt Carson is surprised when his boss, Mr. Hardin, expects him to transport his mail order bride, Sofia Parker, from San Antonio, Texas to Abilene, Kansas. Little does Wyatt know that the real Sofia Parker has just passed away from blood poisoning. Her roommate, Eugenia Madsen, has taken her place, determined to escape poverty by marrying a rich cattle baron. While on the Chisholm Trail, Eugenia’s drawn to the handsome trail boss, but Wyatt Carson, oldest of the Carson brothers, has no plans to settle down just yet or anytime soon, preferring his freedom. Eugenia is a raven-haired beauty with big, dark eyes. Her fun and flirty manner begin to wear him down, especially after she dons a pair of men’s denim pants and learns to ride and shoot. Two months on the trail is a long time—far too long to be spent with a woman like Eugenia and not touch her. The flirtatious vixen tempts him like no other, and his good intentions begin to evaporate. As the cowboys pull into Abilene, Wyatt must let Eugenia go. This could be the biggest challenge of his life. Grant Eva Caldwell is on the hunt for the gunslinger who attacked her sister, Cora, vowing to kill the man when she sees him again. The orphaned sisters have never had an easy life, struggling to fend for themselves by any means possible. A pickpocket by profession, Eva brazenly robs several men on the train to Topeka.

The Saloon Lawyer


C.J. Petit - 2021
    Jim simply handed him a telegram then left the bigger office.After he closed the door, Morgan ignored his client and opened the envelope. The message was from the Kerr County sheriff.Sheriff J.R. Brown reported that Morgan’s older brother had been killed by one of the working girls in his saloon. Despite many witnesses to the shooting, the sheriff had yet to apprehend her.Morgan excused himself, then left the client to tell his clerk that he’d be going to Kerrville in the morning. When he arrived, he’d give them a lesson on the true meaning of justice.

The Cowboys


William Dale Jennings - 1971
    Will Anderson, a flinty old rancher, has a huge herd of cattle ripe for market when his regular hands, inflamed by gold fever, desert him. In desperation, he hires the only "men" available for the perilous 400 mile drive - a pack of scraggly schoolboys. Through skill and harsh discipline, Wil Anderson whips them from greenhorns into seasoned cowhands. But before the long drive is over, the boys discover that the price they must pay for manhood is a terrible one- murder and revenge! the stunning, heartbreaking climax of this extraordinary story will surprise you - and perhaps even sock you.

Only Killers and Thieves


Paul Howarth - 2018
    When the rain finally comes, it’s a miracle. For a moment, the scrubland flourishes and the remote swimming hole fills. Returning home from an afternoon swim, fourteen-year-old Tommy and sixteen-year-old Billy McBride discover a scene of heartbreaking carnage: their dogs dead in the yard, their hardworking father and mother shot to death, and their precocious younger sister unconscious and severely bleeding from a wound to her gut. The boys believe the killer is their former Aboriginal stockman, and, desperate to save Mary, they rush her to John Sullivan, the wealthiest landowner in the region and their father’s former employer, who promises to take care of them.Eager for retribution, the distraught brothers fall sway to Sullivan, who persuades them to join his posse led by the Queensland Native Police, an infamous arm of British colonial power whose sole purpose is the “dispersal” of indigenous Australians to “protect” settler rights. The group is led by the intimidating inspector Edmund Noone, a dangerous and pragmatic officer whose intellect and ruthlessness both fascinates and unnerves the watchful Tommy. Riding for days across the barren outback, the group is determined to find the perpetrators they insist are guilty, for reasons neither of the brothers truly understands. It is a harsh and horrifying journey that will have a devastating impact on Tommy, tormenting him for the rest of his life—and hold enduring consequences for a young country struggling to come into its own.Set in a period of Australian and British history as raw and relevant as that of the wild frontier of nineteenth-century America, Only Killers and Thieves is an unforgettable story of family, guilt, empire, race, manhood, and faith that combines the insightfulness of Philipp Meyer’s The Son with the atmospheric beauty of Amanda Coplin’s The Orchardist and the raw storytelling power of Ian McGuire’s The North Water.

Girl with a Gun


Kari Bovee - 2018
    Finally, she has a chance to save her family’s farm—and make her dreams come true. But her act misfires when she discovers her Indian assistant dead in her tent.Uncovering a shocking secret from her assistant’s past, the girl with the gun believes it’s murder. Determined to find the truth, she ruffles some horse feathers, making enemies along the trail. But, when her prized gelding is stolen, Annie realizes she might have been the target all along.Can Little Miss Sure Shot save her equine friend and find the killer before everything she’s worked for is destroyed?If you like a cunning mystery, a feisty heroine, and a fast-paced plot that keeps the pages turning, you’ll love this wild ride with the iconic Annie Oakley in the saddle.2019 Chanticleer Murder & Mayhem First Place, Best in Category2019 Hillerman Award for Southwest Fiction2019 New Mexico/Arizona Book Awards: First Place in the Mystery/Crime Category2019 Next Generation Indie Book Awards: Finalist in Historical Fiction