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Sad but true. The special free shipping offer for A Fistful of Legends will suffer a grisly death at midnight tonight. Details HERE.

Alamo Bookshelf 3: The Alamo, Tall Tales of Davy Crockett & Exploring the Alamo Legends

 
THE ALAMO - John Myers Myers (1948)
A groundbreaking work: The first book-length study, with chapters on events leading up the battle and on all the major players. Still a good read, due to Myers’ easy going style, but an amazing amount of new information has surfaced in the past sixty years. It would be interesting to compare this to A Line in the Sand (Alamo Bookshelf 1), to see what’s changed and what’s remained the same. This book has gone through many printings and editions. Pictured here is a fairly recent paperback edition.

THE TALL TALES OF DAVY CROCKETT (1987)
A reprinting, in facsimile, of three complete Crockett almanacs purportedly published in Nashville from 1839-1841, with an introduction by Michael A. Lofaro. No one knows where these almanacs were really published, or by whom, but they’re full of great woodcuts and wacky stories. Beware! Even though the pages are slightly larger than the originals, the type is tiny and sometimes spotty. Bring your magnifying glass. Of the several books reprinting stuff from Davy’s almanacs, this is one of the easiest to find.

EXPLORING THE ALAMO LEGENDS - Wallace O. Chariton (1990)
I like this guy. He’s a true Texan, with the guts to say what he thinks and the humor to make it go down easy. He wrote at least two other books on the Alamo, and all are among my favorites. This one delivers his take on over a dozen Alamo mysteries, legends and controversies. How did Davy and the other heroes die? Did Sam Houston really order Bowie to blow the place up? Did Travis really draw the line in the sand? Did one man really refuse to cross it? Wally gives us the straight skinny.

A Fistful of Legends FREE SHIPPING offer. Ends Monday!

You can still order advance copies of A Fistful of Legends, with free shipping, but time is running out. Act now via PayPal, and your book will arrive pronto. (If you don't use PayPal, we can make other arrangements.) Otherwise you'll have to wait until January 31 and pay shipping to an online bookseller.

A Fistful of Legends is $15.95 (£10.50 UK). If you desire (and why wouldn't you?) you can also get Express Westerns' previous anthology, Where Legends Ride, for the package price of $29.90 (£19.50 UK). That's free shipping on both. Live elsewhere on the planet? We can work that out, too.

Write me at delewis1@hotmail.com for payment details.

The full lineup of stories (introduced by master fictioneer James Reasoner) can be found HERE.

Sam Spade: The Death Bed Caper

Not that I'm complaining, but I can't figure why this episode from June 20, 1948 sounds so clear. It's almost like stereo and HD. At first I thought it might be a rehearsal, but it has all the elements of a real broadcast. Guess I should just enjoy it.

The Death Bed Caper Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Hear more Adventures of Sam Spade:
The Cheesecake Caper
Sam and the Psyche
The Fairly-Bright Caper
The Rushlight Diamond Caper
The Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail Caper
The Stopped Watch Caper
The Apple of Eve Caper
The Prodigal Daughter Caper
The Battles of Belvedere Caper
The Vaphio Cup Caper
The Betrayal in Bumpass Hell Caper
The Bow Window Caper
The Adam Figg Caper
The Calcutta Trunk Caper 

Bad news. I've run out of Wildroot Cream-Oil ads. But since I like seeing art in this space, I'll be looking for other Spade stuff. This week, we present the world's first look at Sam - on the cover of Black Mask from Sept. 1929, featuring the first installment of The Maltese Falcon.

Forgotten Books: Simon Lash, Private Detective by Frank Gruber

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Frank Gruber mysteries are like snack food. You can quickly gobble one up and have another. There’s nothing really memorable about his style, but his plots are interesting and always pay off in the end. He sort of reminds me of Erle Stanley Gardner.

I’ve read all the Johnny Fletcher books, and liked them fine, but my favorite Gruber character is this guy - Simon Lash. Lash has one leg up on Fletcher because he’s a private detective, and another because he’s a book collector.

I suspect a little Nero Wolfe influence here. Given his way, Lash would stay in his library and read. He only works when his legman Eddie Slocum badgers him beyond endurance. Once Lash gets moving, he does some of his own detecting, but keeps Eddie hopping with even more assignments than Wolfe gives Archie.

The mystery itself is fine. It's full of clues and suspects and plot twists and all that jazz, but what makes this book really interesting is all the talk about Lash’s Western Americana collection. (Gruber, I’m sure you know, was also a western writer, and produced far more western novels than he did mysteries.)

Gruber says this about Lash’s library:

This was the only place where he really ever lived; during the hours when he lost himself in his hobby, the study of American frontier history. All the books were considered “Americana” by collectors and book dealers and as such most of them enjoyed the additional appendage of “rare.” Lash received the catalogues of every rare-book dealer in the country. He was one of their best customers.

Some of Lash’s books are referred to by title and author, others only by description. And in several cases, values (as of 1941) are noted. Here are the books as mentioned in the text:
- Lowe’s Five Years a Dragoon
- The Kansas Crusade by Eli Thayer
- Quantrill & the Border Wars
- The King Strang Mormon book, “worth a hundred dollars” (I was unable to identify this one)
- The McCoy Cattle Trade book
- The Cherokee Bible
- McClellan’s Own Story
- Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital by Robert Wright, one of the founders of Dodge, and one of men who hired Earp, but who spells the name Erb.
- The Vigilantes of Montana by Thomas Dimsdale,“easily worth $200” (Abebooks lists a second edition in fair condition for $975, and one near fine for $1250. The first edition, says a bookseller, is virtually unobtainable.)
- Wolfville Nights
- Clay Allison of the Washita, “worth $35” (No firsts listed on Abe, but a 1922 paperback edition, with a third of the spine missing and the cover nearly detached is offered at $447.)
- The Latter Day Saints Emigrants’ Guide, “last seen offered for twelve hundred” (A 1921 reprint of the 1848 edition is available for $400.)

At one point, Lash looks at the flyleaf of a copy of The Book of Mormon and perspiration breaks out on his forehead.

There are other western connections, too. Lash visits a ranch called “Robber’s Roost”, operated by a son of Billy the Kid. According to Billy's son, Billy himself stayed there shortly before he was killed. Johnny Ringo also spent time there, and was said by Billy to be a great reader. Other former residents, Lash is told, included Dave Rudabaugh and Butch Cassidy. The place was supposedly used by the Wild Bunch as a sort of post office.

I look forward to re-reading the other Simon Lash books: Buffalo Box (1942) and Murder ‘97 (1948).

Simon Lash, Private Detective was filmed (apparently on a meager budget) as Accomplice in 1946. Gruber wrote the screenplay. I found a review that says Lash “loves books”, so at least some of the book-collecting angle was used. Anyone seen it? (I own this poster, but it's too ugly to put on the wall.)

Visit pattinase for more of this week's Forgotten Books.

Satan Hall 7: Satan's Mark

Detective Frank “Satan” Hall is in a hell of a fix. After slapping down a mobster called Gunner Krause, Satan lets his guard down a moment and is captured.

“And you’re going to take it right smack in the stomach. All seven shots, Satan. Right in the belly. You’re going to feel them; every one of them.” Krause’s voice rose as he talked, and there was hatred in it. “Every one of the boys will know you don’t live long after slapping me down.”

Trapped in the back seat of Krause’s car, hands manacled behind his back, Satan feels... The cold hand of death was on him. Funny, he thought. It was so real, as if icy fingers touched the back of his neck. He shivered slightly. The cushion felt as if it had lead in it; hard metal that bored into his back.

Krause pulls off the road and stops the car. “Well, do you get out yourself; or do I plug you here, open the door and let you drop out?”

Satan doesn’t answer, because his hand is suddenly clutching a gun.  Was he delirious? Where had it come from? Was it lying there on the seat behind him, and had it worked its way out with his moving body?

“Well?” Krause leaned over, his face close to Satan’s. “You’re turning yellow when the time comes, eh? Slap a guy down. Mark me! Satan’s Mark!” His lips were twisted; brutal. His eyes narrowed to two thin slits. And--and his gun was held in his right hand, close to Satan’s stomach.  “And that’s the end, Satan. Don’t want to look, eh?” This as Satan turned his head away. “Don’t want to take the dose of lead!” This as Satan swung his whole body, from the knees; swung it so that his back turned toward Krause; his right hand pushed well over on his left side, and the small black nose of the thing that right hand held slanted upwards.

Satan’s gun belches flame once, twice, three times. Krause’s mouth hangs open, hands pressed against his stomach, and he collapses. “He wanted it that way,” Satan says to himself. “A bellyful of lead.”

So where did the gun come from? Remember those icy fingers? They were real. Turns out the girl Satan has been trying to save from the mob had heard about the rub-out, and hid in the back seat, planning to shoot Krause herself. When her nerve failed, she thrust the gun into Satan’s hand.

The moral of the story? Never take Satan for a ride. But if you do, check the back seat for babes!

NOTE: For once, the artist didn't read the story. A) The car is not on fire. B) Krause hits Satan with his gun butt, but there's no monkey wrench in sight. C) Satan's hands are supposed to be manacled behind his back. D) What's that steering wheel doing in the back seat?

Our Satan Hall cover gallery is HERE.

Legend 19: Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil by Edward A. Grainger

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Yes, "Cash Laramie and the Masked Devil" by David Cranmer (writing as Edward A. Grainger) is one of the 21 new stories of the Old West awaiting you in A Fistful of Legends. And it's a corker!

Deputy U.S. Marshal Cash Laramie has a problem. His job is to recover $85,000 of federal money stolen from one of his fellow marshals. Trouble is, that marshal had his head chopped off by a masked rider with horns and a flashing cutlass. Lucky for Cash, he's equipped with a keen intellect, a sure-fire aim, and a surprising ace in the hole.

David Cranmer's prose sparkles with wry humor in this action-packed mystery. Cash Laramie is an engaging Old West detective, and I've a feeling readers will be begging for his return.

The Story With No Name Part 23 by Paul Dellinger

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Owlhoot Paul Dellinger delivers another fine installment of The Story, as this round-robin saga nears its climax. You'll find Part 23 on Spirit of the Snake, a blog wrangled by western author Mark Engebretson, whose latest book is called, coincidentally, Spirit of the Snake. The first 22 parts are on display over at The Culbin Trail. The smashing finale is coming soon! Be sure to check out Spirit of the Snake and its predecessor, The Golden Amulet, on Amazon's Mark Engebretson page.