"Bowdrie" by Louis L'Amour

This is basically a collection of short mysteries, which were published in adventure magazines. They're all about this one Texas Ranger named Chick Bowdrie, who rides around doing Texas Ranger things and solving crimes. 

There were eight stories in this collection, of which my two particular favorites were:

"Bowdrie Follows a Cold Trail," about Bowdrie happening upon an abandoned house where there's clearly been a murder and probably a kidnapping. He proceeds to dig up the titular cold trail, figure out who murdered the guy, and un-kidnap the kidnapped people.

"Bowdrie Passes Through," about Bowdrie happening upon a town gone bad under the thumb of the quintessential evil cattle bacon. It has a courtroom scene, and I happen to like those.

 

I don't have tons to say here.

 

My mom reviewed this too, so you can read her review if you want.

Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: E10+ for western violence and a few traditional swearwords (not by good guys, I don't think).

I'm going to give Bowdrie (the book, not the person) 4 stars.

 

(Endnote: He's called "Chick" Bowdrie because his real name is Charles, but there was another Charles in his childhood school who was already "Chuck". This is revealed at the very end of the book.)