cover image Telluride

Telluride

Susan Clark Schofield. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $26.5 (328pp) ISBN 978-0-945575-96-2

A feisty heroine and her reluctant gunslinger brother head the cast in a fast-paced, vividly written narrative by the author of Refugio, They Named You Wrong . In the fall of 1892, 14 years after leaving his family in Telluride, Colo., retired gunslinger Zachary Coleman (known as Cole) returns to investigate his father's mysterious death. He gets scant welcome from his fiercely independent sister Gretel, who feels he abandoned her, and has a painful reunion with his former lover Catharine, who now shares a loveless marriage with the enigmatic and sinister Heinrich Braunn. Johnny Torres, foreman of Braunn's silver mine, tries to help, but Cole is entrapped by the erotic games Catharine and her husband play. Events build to a climax as a mine explosion buries Johnny alive and the killers who wait for Cole take Gretel hostage. The action is nicely complemented by Schofield's skillful delineation of her characters' struggles with the complications of the human heart. Historical accuracy and splendidly rich detail make this a winner in any genre. (Sept.)