Western | Book Girl & Little Bear

The Harvey Girl by Dana Stabenow

A Western crime novel set in New Mexico in 1980, this is the first book in a planned series featuring Pinkerton agent Clare Wright. After a train robbery and murder led Fred Harvey to contact the Pinkerton Agency, Clare goes undercover, trains as a Harvey Girl, and arrives in Montaña Roja to work as a waitress at the Harvey House restaurant, near the train station.

I have long been fascinated by Harvey Girls, probably since watching Judy Garland sing about the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe Railway in The Harvey Girls movie, released in 1946. Last year I reviewed The Harvey Girls by Juliette Fay. The train robbery Clare’s investigating was not a hold up of train passengers, but rather the diversion of freight cars onto a side track.

At 22, Clare is smart, attractive, and carries a derringer. She quickly learns just how hard Harvey Girls work. Bat Masterson and Mark Twain make appearance in the novel, which adds to the book’s appeal, as does the gorgeous scenery. Clare uncovers a number of secrets, but which ones are connected to her case? I enjoyed the setting, found Clare appealing, and liked that the plot was not predictable. In between working in the restaurant and exploring the town, Clare has some time for dancing and flirting. I wonder where Clare is headed on her next case. The Harvey Girl is an interesting series start from an award-winning author best known for her contemporary Alaskan mysteries featuring Kate Shugak, and also for a series set in ancient Egypt. Breakup is a fun place to meet Kate Shugak, and Death of an Eye is the first in the Eye of Isis series.

Brenda

Boy, with Accidental Dinosaur by Ian McDonald

Sometimes you can tell a book by its cover. This science fiction/western novella is set in the future, after the Chaos. It’s dystopian, and absolutely fascinating. Latif Tamim, or Tif, wants to work with dinosaurs in a circus. There is a time portal in the southwest where the present connects to various times in the Mesozoic era, including the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. Dinosaurs can come through the portal, for a while.

Orphaned Tif finds his home with a small circus, bringing an old carnotaur with him. A Silver Clown, a mysterious buckaroo named Prince, a vet/dinosaur wrangler, and the manager run the circus, along with a couple of self-driving trailer trucks. This is a wild, adventurous story, full of loss, longing, and hope, set in a largely nomadic society. Wrangler Matilda goes on a road trip with Tif to Montana so that he can reconnect with a fellow orphan. The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi is close to a readalike, though it has more humor, and no actual dinosaurs. A short, memorable read.

Brenda