Dead Man's Canyon

Sam Burrack is pursuit of outlaw Blake Carly and his brother Abel. He finds one dead and the other alive, saying he's Abel and his brother Blake tried to take his identity, forcefully. Leaving it ambiguous, Burrack takes the twin into custody, not sure which one he has. Is it truly Abel or is it Blake? A spirited "sporting lady" who they encounter along the way who knew Blake intimately can't even tell who he is. Burrack did not know that Blake Carly had found out the hiding place of a stolen shipment of government gold. That the somewhat down-at-heel outlaw band Carly rode with was after that secret. Meanwhile, Chicago-based gunman Dayton Clifford is also after the secret of the gold. The dangerous and sadistic Clifford is something of a stranger to the territory but he gets by well, in a vicious fashion. A real firecracker of a novel, enthusiastically recommended.