Leadville (A Steve Dancy Tale Book 2) Kindle Edition

I inadvertently came across the James Best novels because I live in Prescott, Arizona and I recognized the name of our city's prominent landmark, Thumb Butte, in the title of his third book in the series. I'm on the city's historic preservation commission so after reading the reviews I couldn't wait to start this book. I decided I would start with the first in the series so I purchased all three; Shopkeeper, Leadville and Murder at Thumb Butte. First, let me explain why I rated this book as four stars instead of five. The novels are all quite short, about 230 pages each. Normally, I'm critical of novels that are too long. It's almost as if most authors find a need to provide extraneous details as filler that doesn't enhance a storyline. Mr. Best's excellent novels are just the opposite. They're too short! He has a wonderful writing style, great characters, good plot lines and intrigue with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. But, I think he could easily add 100 pages to each novel and spend more time building on the character development of the people in his novels and giving a little more history of areas where the books take place. The Old West is so fascinating I think these novels would have been off-the-chart great if he took advantage of the history available. The author's style is simple and straightforward and perfect for a quick and entertaining read on a long plane ride or a day at the beach or on vacation. You don't have to think too hard...just enjoy. All three are hard to put down because each chapter ends with some suspense and you're eager to find out what happens next.As for each book in the series I think it's a must to read the Shopkeeper first. Most of the main characters carry forward into the subsequent novels and while he gives you a brief description of the people in each book the first book does the best job in giving you an understanding of the history and character development of the players. Shopkeeper was fast paced and provided a good introduction to Steve Dancy, Jeff Sharp and Captain Joseph McAllen, the main characters in all three books. Their relationship to each other is critical to enjoying the other two books in the series. I think Shopkeeper and Murder at Thumb Butte were both better stories than Leadville. Murder at Thumb Butte was the most compelling and complex storyline of the three books and because I am familiar with the history of Prescott I can vouch for the fact that Mr. Best did a fine job researching many of our local historical facts and places. I enjoyed Leadville but I thought the other two books were better stories and both had more satisfying conclusions. If you read Shopkeeper first you could skip Leadville and go into Thumb Butte without missing a beat but I would still recommend reading all three.These aren't history books but I would highly recommend them for a fun and entertaining read and hope there's more to come.

This is a fun western series that I just cannot get enough of. I have purchased 7 books in this series and will read more if they continue to be such, quick, easy, and enjoyable reads.Steve Dancy is the main character in these tales. He is a green horn out west and a wealthy former gun store owner who is an expert with guns.He has made a couple friend that are developed through this series.Captain McAllen is a Pinkerton. Steve has hired him before and they are now friends. McAllen's daughter, Maggie has been kidnapped by a dangerous sociopathic con man and has hired a evil half breed who love to kill people to hold and dispose of Maggie when he gets what he wants from McAllen.Sharp is wealthy from his silver mine investments and has become a good friend of Steve too.Red is a tracker for McAllen and the Pinkertons.In this episode, the four are determined to save Maggie and prevent her death.This was a fun ride with a satisfying ending that kept me interested from beginning to end.I recommend this novel to family, friends, and others who enjoy a good western tale.Enjoy!

In my mind James D. Best's two "Steve Dancy Tales" are about the same book. Once you start with this character it is hard to put him down. I read both of these book together so I decided to review them together. What follows below is my review of them both, which I just posted on the first book in the series, "The Shopkeeper."Honestly I originally bought this book because I was formatting my own book for Kindle--a first time venture for me--and needed some actual Kindle books as examples. The reasons why I chose this book are long winded and not necessary to the completion of this review so suffice it to say that I got this one.I have never before in my life had any interest in westerns. None whatsoever. Zero. Zip. Nada. Period. Even as a kid I was more inclined to play "Star Trek" rather than the more traditional "Cowboys and Indians," and no I don't live in my parent's basement. The closest to westerns I would ever get is my tendency to like guns and World War II history.In spite of my low interest to begin with, and the book had already served its original purpose, I thought that I would give a couple of chapters a try and see how I liked it being somewhat familiar with James D. Best's writing in "Tempest at Dawn." Well it didn't take long for me to get hooked. I read it straight through in spite of my wife's imploring bids for me to get my work done around the house. After I was finished with this book I proceeded to buy and read the next book in the Steve Dancy series, "Leadville." And believe me if James had finished another one in the series I'd have read that as well in spite of the domestic implications.In this book the character, Steve Dancy, a man from the eastern United States, innocently enough gets caught up in the western society and finds he is unable to extricate himself from it. Boy can I relate to that! I can't wait for the next in the series.

Mr Best is on to a winner with the Dancy character . Enjoyed the story a lot and looking forward to continuing reading the rest of Dancy's travels.

I read the series of Steve Dancy mysteries in the emerging west. I enjoyed each book and can honestly say that each was hard to put down. Everyday, I was drawn back to read more.

it was alright

Kindle ebook

Almost finished.