Longarm 259: Longarm and the Black Widow

Seems like the readers don't always agree;because I thought this was one of the better sagas in this series. This episode finds Longarm in the little Old West town of Pagosa Springs,which today still has only a population of 1628 people.It is in south central Colorado and near the Hawk Ranch of U.S. Senator John Hawk.He and a federal dispatcher,Jason Snyder, were murdered as they were about to transfer thirty thousand acres of extremely valuable Ute Reservation lands. Longarm gets the assignment to solve these murders and bring about justice. Although not too happy about it;Longarm teams up with ex-Navajo Police Chief Jerome Ochoa ,and face some tough hurdles,people and situations solving the mystery. Normally,I don't like too much mystery in these stories ;but in this case the writer keeps the storyline focused and doesn't give us a rambling,convoluted "Whodunnit".There are lots of interesting,well developed characters,several hair-raising events and confrontations along with some good fights and shootings. There is little in the way of historical or landscape involved;but there is lots of good Old West talk and priceless lines. Just when Longarm arrives back in Denver with the case all wrapped up;and he has sets off to enjoy a well deserved ,and unusual, months vacation; he realizes the case has some loose ends and needs more work. This sets things in motion again;and ends up in a real surprise finale. It is a shame that the artwork on the cover is a bit of a hodgepdoge,when the story had great characters like: The Black Widow,the Senator,Jake,Della,George Casey,Chief Moy-ahni,Milly,big oaf Otto Klinger,Liberty,or that strawberry roan,a jug-headed horse that looked like the offspring of a camel and a mule with crooked legs and a pencil thin neck ,that Longarm named Ugly;but was actually the best horse Longarm had ever rode. Any of these would have been great instead of what we see;and if not mistaken,I believe some of these were used on previous covers.