The winter around Cheyenne Wyoming that year was devastating killing both people and livestock. John Henry Cole was three miles out of town on his small ranch waiting out the storm that was quickly killing his cattle and horses and starting to feel a little crazy himself. Everything he owned was dying before his eyes and there wasn't anything that he could do about it. His dreams of a settled life were as dead as everything else. He knew it was time to move on. And move on he did but not in a direction he expected. Teddy Green a Texas Ranger arrives in Cheyenne and seeks Cole's help in locating Ella Mims a woman who once lived in Cheyenne and with whom Cole had once been intimate. Green wants to question her concerning her involvement in a murder in Denver City. But they would not be the only ones searching for her. "
A good Western, with well-developed characters. Cole is asked to help find a woman wanted for murder - a woman he once loved. This book does have plenty of violence. It also has some humor in the plot and some good interaction between the main characters. I will be reading more books by this author.
Enjoyed it, especially the appearances of the west's historical figures such as Bill Tillghman, Charlie Utter (whose death in this book is as good an explanation as any for his disappearance from history after Wild Bill's murder), the Earps, Doc Holiday, and of course Judge Roy Bean amoung others. Delightful read!!
I thoroughly enjoyed this western along the lines of McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. I loved the interspersing of real historical characters into the story. I'll be looking for more!
This book had too many stories that I was getting lost. It was using stories from the past, but then introduced way too many characters within the story itself. Oh well.
Winter Kill is a John Henry Cole Story by Bill Brooks. This is a diferent type book from what I usually read, bur I enjoyed it. The setting is Cheyenne, Wyoming in a devastating winter where all the cattle and horses died. John Henry Cole was three miles out of town on his small ranch waiting out the storm and worried about his livestock and frieds who were dying, when he decided he would have to leave Cheyene and try his luck elewhere. When the Chinook finally came, he was packing up to leave when a man named Teddy Green, a Texas Ranger, convinced him to help him find his ex-wife, Ella Mims, a woman Cole had also loved. She has been accused of a murder in Denver City and there is a posse of gunmen on her trail intent on killing her so she can't testify. Famous men and women from this period are added to the novel to lend authenticity. Billy the Kid, Belle Starr, Doc Holliday, Roy Bean, Wyatt Earp and other lawmen are interwoven seamlessly into the narrative. A good read for those who enjoy westerns.