Longarm and the Dead Man's Tale

This episode is the 300th adventure in this long running series which started in October 1978. I have read many of them and there is one thing that you can always say about a Longarm novel and that is ;You never know what you ate going to get!.By far,the majority have been excellent,although once in a while you get a bummer. Generally speaking,I tend to like the older episodes better than the later ones. If there is anything that I don't particularly like is when it turns out to be more of a western whodunit rather than a western adventure. I was a little disappointed with this one; expecting something special with it being the 300th. Through most of the book ,I was very pleased. It takes place, for the main part,in Leadvill,which was one of the most exciting mining towns of the Old West. In this episode,we are given a lot of descriptions how much of life went on in these towns in the 1880's.This was so well done ,one almost got the feeling of being there. However,towards the end ,it bogged down into too much convoluted analyzing ,such as one gets in a mystery. The author develops some very interesting characters as Longarm searches for the lost loot. I for one,really enjoy the artwork on the covers; but I have a problem with this one. Other than our hero,Longarm,there are good images on the cover,but be damned if I can tell who is who.Who is that in the pine box? There are some interesting ladies in the novel,none of whom seem to be the one on the cover,and with whom. I get the feeling that someone just went to the art archives,dug out some stuff and made a collage,irrespective of the story.This seems to me to be a great loss of opporunity. I have often wished a novel included several pictures of individuals the author finds to represent those he has describes.It wouldn't take a great effort,but would add immensely to the book.Just think of how the image of Rhett Butler is conveyed with a photo of Clark Gable;or Eliot Ness with a photo of Robert Stack. A few years ago ,I was in Tombstone Arizona,and there were lots of characters roaming around who could fit the bill. Maybe if the editors tried this idea;they could give these novels some new spark. Even if artwork is used;there should be no doubt as to which of the characters is being conveyed. There is a lot of history referred to throughout the episode ;which is well appreciated. We also learn that Longarm reads a lot in those evenings when the action gets slow. Scattered through the book we find picturesque talk like; "..shook the dew off the lily.." "A big gray cat got up and turned around three times in Longarm's gut." "The town tamer smiled as if in fond memory as he added,"They talk more freely when they're dying,anyhow."