Longarm 041: Barbary Coast

Someone's passing phoney 20 dollar gold counterfeit coins in San Francisco and Longarm is sent in after two other federal agents investigating the case wind up dead. In the process, Longarm encounters a couple of lonesome widows and does right by them, as well as a couple of other gals in need some way or the other. There are also several other interesting characters, including a lunatic who thinks he's royalty and boxer Gentleman Jim Corbett as a 15 year-old. This is a really good mystery that kept me interested throughout; I wasn't able to predict the ending. The writing was also excellent. Longarm's character is well-defined. Of all the adult westerns, he's probably the most developed. **