The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig, 414 pages

This is billed is a Western, which frankly, is not my genre of choice.  Set in a small Montana town in 1960, it may be a Western but it is also a coming of age story.

Rusty lives with his bachelor father, Tom, who owns the locally famous bar, the Medicine Lodge.  Rusty's mom left when Rusty was just a baby, but the two do just fine on their own.

The summer Rusty turns 12 brings changes to their lives.  This is a slow paced tale that totally captivated me from the beginning. 

The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, 294 pages

This is Tony Hillerman's 1st book in his long-running Leaphorn & Chee series.  I got mixed up and listened to book 2 before this one.  However, reading them out of order didn't ruin anything.

Hillerman originally published this book in 1970, but it did not seem dated.  Set in the four-corners area of the American Southwest, the series follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police and his cases.  In this outing a depressed university professor gets mixed up with a Navajo Witch during a summer research trip.

I don't know if our hot weather made me more in the mood for this or not, but I really enjoyed the story and am looking forward to getting book 3 started in a few weeks.

Dance Hall of the Dead by Tony Hillerman, 255 pages

Tony Hillerman has long been on my "to be read or listened to" list and I finally got a start on it.

Joe Leaphorn is a lieutenant on the Navajo tribal police force in the 4-corners area of the American Southwest.  He is called to help solve the mystery of the disappearance of two Indian boys, one a Zuni, the other a Navajo.  It soon turns into a murder investigation.

The book kept me interested, if not totally enthralled, but I have another Hillerman in the hopper ready to be read soon so will keep on the Hillerman trail.

To Hell on a Fast Horse by Mark Lee Gardner, 336 pages

The complete title of this book is To Hell on a Fast Horse: Billy the Kid, Pat Garrett, and the Epic Chase to Justice in the Old West.

I'm not a fan of westerns, but Mark Lee Gardner recently visited the East Hills Library and put on a great show where he sang and spoke about his newest book which is about Jesse James.  Even though reading about the American West is not my favorite thing, it is one of my favorite places to visit.  Somehow, that was a good enough reason for me to read this book.

I recommend this book to anyone who is into the "Old West."  Probably everyone knows about Billy the Kid.  Pat Garrett was the lawman who shot and killed him.  This book provides lots of details on both their lives and life in general in the 1870s-early 1900s in New Mexico.  After reading this book I am very happy to be alive in 21st century Missouri!