Death’s Icy Hand
It is the winter of 1872, and a Russian grand duke and his large entourage are visiting the Wyoming Territory aboard a royal train. Their companions include Buffalo Bill Cody and George Armstrong Custer.
From the opening pages, we know a murder is planned, but soon it becomes a case of multiple murders. And as marshal Monday Malone and his partner and love interest, Kate Shaw, set out to solve the crimes, Kate inevitably places her own life in jeopardy.
The complicated storyline includes a cast of unpleasant characters, numerous false identities, and foreign political intrigue. When a murder is solved halfway through the book, a new set of murders propels the story forward. Along with all the physical action, the author heavily contrasts the immoral decadence of old world nobility with the strong upstanding virtues offered by the values of the American West.
As in the previous works, the book suffers from a too-modern vocabulary, an excessive penchant for clichés, and a misplaced fondness for one-word sentences. Death’s Icy Hand is the third book in the Warbonnet series.
