Longarm and the Missing Mistress

Chanteuse Miss Claire has become the target of a stalker. She asks for help and Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long soon has the job of keeping her alive. But Longarm may not be a match for the stalker as he is gunned down and believes he sees Miss Claire killed in front of him. That's when things take a turn for the strange and it seems Miss Claire's murder may have been staged... This book proved to be a satisfying read, as a grumpy Longarm finds himself going to watch Miss Claire perform, something that's not his kind of entertainment. As soon as he's working for Miss Claire the action hots up and races to it's conclusion. Along the way the reader meets some great characters as the mystery of Miss Claire's `death' becomes more involved. As well as gunplay there's quite a bit of humour too. Occasionally I wondered how much research this author (Tabor Evans is a pseudonym shared by a number of writers) had done into the character of Longarm - or more so those he works with, as there was no mention of Henry, his boss's harassed assisstant, and there was a major scene where Henry should have made an appearance. Still these little questionable areas didn't dampen my enjoyment of this book and would say it will go down well with fans of this series.

In this episode we find Longarm back in his hometown of Denver in the middle of July. A great time and place to enjoy the weather. The very popular chanteuse, Miss Lilly Claire, is appearing at the Birdcage Theatre for a week's engagement. She is very concerned about her safety and makes a deal with Longarm,with Billy's approval,to take time off and be her bodyguard.What seems to Longarm a simple task turns out to be much more than he planned on. Miss Claire ,is killed,or is she? To solve this murder ,Longarm is led on a long chase by train from Denver to Cheyenne,to Salt Lake City ,to Reno and eventually to Silver City,Nevada.This is not a Whodunnit since Longarm is certain from the beginning who the culprits are,and it's just a matter of hanging on like a dog with a bone;to bring the murderer or murderers to justice. It is a well constructed tale with a good storyline,and lots of interesting characters at every stop along the way.It takes a lot more than a couple of bullet wounds to stop our hero.One day he is in a hospital bed fighting for his life then a couple of days he is fighting a brute of a man who painfully learns that Longarm is the wrong one to "take on".Usually on a long train trip,Longarm finds some pleasant company,but this time he surprisingly gets some much needed rest. That is, except for a drunk who becomes a menace to his family ,other passengers and Longarm himself. "The drunk lifted his gun to fire at Longarm. Longarm shot him in the chest,then again in the throat. Blood gushed from his neck and spurted over the man's wife and son.The drunk twitched,his trigger finger sending an errant bullet into a cushion inches from a passenger's head.Longrm wasn't going to let that happen again so he took careful aim and drilled the drunk right between his hate-filled,bloodshot eyes. Now I'm going back to my coach and continue my nap." Overall,a good action-packed saga from beginning to end. Now about the cover.It seems to have next to nothing to do with the story,locations or even the characters we meet.Maybe the guy in the black hat, beard but no mustache,is supposed to be the Salt Lake City lawman,Caleb Bass, we meet on page 128;but what is he doing on the cover of # 322 ,Longarm and Kilgore's Revenge? See my review for that episode dated November 22,2007 . Why couldn't we have had Miss Claire or a Graveyard scene? That is the sort of great artwork we used to get in the early days of the series.These stories supply lots of opportunity ;but we don't see much effort on the part of the art department anymore.