The Scarlet Saddle by Mason Macrae, a pseudonym for the late James L. Rubel, is his vintage standalone western historical action adventure novel, this one a tale of belated maybe-avenging as a man prematurely inherits a ranch beset with problems from the father he barely knew, and begins to suspect that the sudden deaths of his late father and stepmother may not have been accidental after all, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press' Pioneering imprint.
This was originally published in 1944 by William Collins & Sons Ltd., which incidentally was the original core imprint which later became the “Collins” in HarperCollins.
Currently free @
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much every where else that Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive or else imprint)
Description
A bitter rivalry…
Weston Day hardly knew his father, Tom Day.
After his mother passed when he was five, Weston was sent to live with relatives in Texas.
Years later, when his father and stepmother die in a freak accident, Weston inherits his father’s cattle estate – Skull Ranch.
But even before he gets to the town of Peralta, he’s almost killed in an ambush with three men, leaving him with a nasty-looking scar.
His welcome in Peralta is even more cold-shouldered.
It seems Tom Day once ruled the roost as a cattleman but since his death, the sheepman, Joe Gautz has gotten into favour.
And as everyone in the West knows, sheep and cattle don’t mix.
Weston may be convinced his father was murdered but he isn’t about to start a range war.
But trying to create bridges is impossible – the sheepmen stubbornly don’t trust him and the cattlemen call him a fence-sitter.
On top of that, two month’s rent is due on the land and $5000 mysteriously disappeared from his father’s account the day before his death.
The sheepmen have always been keen on Skull Ranch and they’re pressing in as far as they’ll dare.
Weston knows someone didn’t want him to reach Skull Ranch and that same person also killed his father and stepmother.
In Peralta, the list of suspects is endless.
Can Weston find out who killed his father and stepmother?
Can he save Skull Ranch from falling into the hands of the sheepmen?
With a colourful cast of characters and a story dripping with suspense, The Scarlet Saddle is a page-turner of a Western. Perfect for fans of the classic Zane Gray.