Rode Hard, Put Away Dead

This book is more detailed and longer than the previous two in the series. I enjoyed the character development and the more complex plot. For animal lovers this entire series is a treat. Trade Ellis has her horses, dogs, and a pig ... and they are family. It is the mixtures of strong mystery, tough female protagonist, western rural flavor, and the relationship with her animals, that make this series fun.Oddly enough, the dialog and character of Trade Ellis remind me of (a female version of) Spencer. Her thoughts seem so natural.I look forward to more in the series.

If you plan to ride or walk in the Southern Arizona desert on a dry, hot June day, don't start at dawn even though it's cooler. Wait til about nine and you'll catch a breeze.That's just one example of the many sketches of Arizona desert and ranch living you'll find throughout Sinclair Browning's Trade Ellis series. Trade, like Browning, is a real cowgirl and a genuine desert rat. try this: "The brittlebrush and ocotillo had gone dormant, leaving their leaves on the desert floor in an effort to conserve what little water they could suck up. The prickly pear cactus was now as flat as thin battered pancakes and the giant saguaros looked like they'd been fasting". Abbey and Bowden, you got company.But this isn't a nature treatise - it's a detective novel. And a damn good one. Like Browning's earlier "The Sporting Club" the primary story is based on a real incident. A bull-riding cowboy marries a wealthy heiress almost twice his age. They go camping in the desert, drink a lot, and even though she's a good swimmer, she's found drowned the next day.That's the real story of Margaret Lesher and T.C. Thorenson and her 1997 death. It's mirrored by Browning's fictional Abigail Van Thiessen and J.B. Calendar. The real story ended in a ruling of accidental death. Browning's wonderful imagination does much more with the fictional version.After Abbie's death, JB hires rancher and part time PI Trade to prove him innocent. Like any good detective (or lawyer or political consultant) she's never quite sure about her own client. And there's a great secondary story involving Mexican druglords and Trade's ranch foreman and his ex-wife that makes the acion even tenser.As a whodunit she scores big, revealing as the story unwinds an increasingly plausible list of subjects. She admirably fulfills the basic requirement of a mystery by keeping you mystified to the end. It could just as well be the colonel in the library with the candlestick. If you liked Browning's earlier Trade Ellis yarns like The Last Song Dogs you will like this one even better. She's become a master of this form and is in the front rank of nust western mystery writers, but anybody else writng anywhere today.

Abigail Van Thiessen is happily married to the man she loves even if he is thirty-plus years younger and sixty million dollars poorer. Her husband, J.B. Calendar, is a rodeo cowboy, which leaves Abigail struggling to ride a horse without falling off. The pair takes off for a camp-out in the Arizona desert, but the vacation ends tragically with Abigail dead and J.B the only person in the vicinity with quite an affluent motive.J.B. realizes that he is clearly the prime suspects so he hires private detective Trade Ellis to learn what really happened to his wife since he was too drunk to remember anything. The autopsy confirms that the heiress was murdered and the cops arrest J.B. Trade seeks evidence that leads to too many suspects who also benefited from Abigail's death, but no one quite matches what J.B. stood to gain. Adding to her doubts about her client's innocence is J.B failing a lie detector test.Sinclair Browning paints a beautiful picture of Arizona's desert and diverse culture, from the rich and famous to the illegal aliens. The mystery is fun to read, as the author unveils the puzzle one piece at a time with no one able to guess whom the killer is before Ms. Browning reveals the key clue. This is a fascinating series (see THE LAST SONG DOGS and THE SPORTING CLUB for the other two novels in this series) that deserves a long run.Harriet Klausner

Rode Hard, Put Away Dead A Trade Ellis Mystery Sinclair Browning Bantam Books 0553583271 PB Anyone marrying multimillionaire Abigail Van Thiessen would have their motives inquired about, especially when the man is thirty years younger and a poor cowboy. Since Abby married J.B., who is a famous bull rider, she is determined to become a rider to share her love's interest. Taking falls is all part of the learning experience and Abby seems to be taking more to falling than to riding. So when J.B. and Abby go on a riding trip, Trade isn't very optimistic about Abby's upcoming adventure. As the news travel back that Abby has died Trade assumes she must have taken a hard fall. Upon learning from her uncle that Abby's death is suspicious, Trade knows exactly where suspicion will fall. Why else would the young man marry her? According to J.B. he married her for love and no other reason. Claiming to be heartbroken and in need of finding the person responsible for this heinous crime, J.B. hires Trade Ellis, private investigator. During her investigation Trade stumbles on other people who also have motive. Things begin to heat up for Trade and this isn't exactly what she needs in 105-degree weather! Sinclair Browning is being touted as the next Tony Hillerman. I think this is unfair. Her work is amazing and unparalleled to anyone else's. She creates a world so intriguing that it is hard to leave once the book is over. Trade Ellis is a wonderful character with many layers adding to what, in anyone else's hand would turn into a stereotype. Anyone reading this book should also watch for Martin, Trade foreman. He quietly takes over every scene that he is in. If you haven't entered Sinclair Browning's world yet, I highly recommend you do so.