The No-Account Girl - Peter Brandvold

Peter Brandvold has turned into a prolific short story writer, and we're all the better for it. "The No-Account Girl" is his latest tale. It features young gunslinger Colter Farrow, who has appeared in three novels so far under Brandvold's pseudonym Frank Leslie. In this one, Colter is on his way to Mexico, dodging bounty hunters along the way, when he runs into the beautiful girl of the title. She has her brother's body wrapped up in the back of a wagon, and she's trying to take him back to her hometown so he can be buried next to their parents. An assortment of gunmen have reasons for stopping her, though, and of course Colter gets drawn into the trouble.

As usual, Mean Pete provides plenty of gritty action, some vivid writing, and a twist ending. He's one of my favorite Western authors, and you can't go wrong with anything he writes. If you haven't sampled his work yet, this would be a fine place to start.