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The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave
Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that�s just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it. Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn�t had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years. That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen. Teenager Charity Axthelm goes missing, Reba Purvis�s housekeeper is poisoned with cyanide Reba is sure was meant for her, and Lucas�s gut tells him that this is only the beginning. It�s not long before the first corpse shows up, bringing the peace in the valley to a thundering end.
252 pages, Hardcover
Published December 25, 2019
33 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Bill Pronzini
625 books235 followersMystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink
Married to author Marcia Muller.
Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
January 8, 2025
"There's been hardly any crime in my bailiwick the past dozen years or so. The worst offenses my three deputies and I have had to deal with are a few minor steer and sheep rustlings, some chicken thievery, kids' vandalism, and an occasional drunken brawl . . . Anyhow, that was the way it was until mid-October 1914. Then, all of a sudden, I had a weeklong crime wave to deal with . . . " -- Sheriff Lucas Monk, on page 14
Set in an unidentified (fictional) northwestern county in pre-WWI Montana, The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave details several transgressions investigated by the rural region's ranking lawman that unusually occurred within a 48-hour period. Sheriff Lucas Monk - a stalwart peace officer of nearly 25 years experience - is quickly tasked with escalating misdeeds that include the theft of a cigar store Indian, the attempted poisoning of a local wallflower, and the discovery of a murdered young woman in the well of an uninhabited farm. Author Pronzini - a veteran mystery writer, although this is the first time I've read one of his books - plausibly creates a fabricated frontier community, populated by expected archetypes such as the crusty general practitioner, the newspaper editor angling for a big scoop, a busybody-ish wealthy widow, and various other bullies and braggarts that loud talk their threats only after the consumption of several beers at the village saloon. (My, how times have changed. Oh, wait . . . ) Lead character Monk - who is just as likely to sit astride his trusty steed as he is hop aboard his newfangled Model T coupe to reach the scene - narrates his adventures with a wry but polite tone, and I'd argue the upstanding sheriff and his jurisdiction have the potential to carry a series.
Set in an unidentified (fictional) northwestern county in pre-WWI Montana, The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave details several transgressions investigated by the rural region's ranking lawman that unusually occurred within a 48-hour period. Sheriff Lucas Monk - a stalwart peace officer of nearly 25 years experience - is quickly tasked with escalating misdeeds that include the theft of a cigar store Indian, the attempted poisoning of a local wallflower, and the discovery of a murdered young woman in the well of an uninhabited farm. Author Pronzini - a veteran mystery writer, although this is the first time I've read one of his books - plausibly creates a fabricated frontier community, populated by expected archetypes such as the crusty general practitioner, the newspaper editor angling for a big scoop, a busybody-ish wealthy widow, and various other bullies and braggarts that loud talk their threats only after the consumption of several beers at the village saloon. (My, how times have changed. Oh, wait . . . ) Lead character Monk - who is just as likely to sit astride his trusty steed as he is hop aboard his newfangled Model T coupe to reach the scene - narrates his adventures with a wry but polite tone, and I'd argue the upstanding sheriff and his jurisdiction have the potential to carry a series.
January 22, 2020
This standalone mystery by the author of the long running *Nameless Detective* series (40+ books but I haven't read a one!) is set in 1914's Montana, at the end of the Wild West. The sheriff drives around in a hard to handle Model T but little else has changed. Suddenly, there is a spurt of violence in the Peaceful Valley and Sheriff Lucas Monk is trying to solve these crimes, while also battling the local gossip and prejudices.
An interesting time indeed. It still feels like the edge of lawless West yet modernization is slowly happening, from cars to electric lights. The Indians are forced into squalid conditions and the women gossip mightily about any woman who might want to stand on her own two feet. Sheriff Monk tries to walk the narrow line to keep everyone placated, but sometimes events just push him too far.
It was a fun quick read. My biggest complaint is one that I just can't stand in my first person mysteries, my preferred point of view. And that's where the narrator thinks he may have solved the puzzle (or puzzles) but doesn't let the reader in on the secret. You know, "Oh, I think I know what happened but first I need some more information" without telling us their suspicions. It just seems a cheap way to generate drama. Maybe the author thinks I should have figured it out by now, but I still don't like it. And it happens in two of the mysteries here. Grrr.
And I also think that Sheriff Monk is just a little too open minded for the sheriff in a small town in the middle of nowhere Montana. You know, all too "live and let live", whether it is attitudes towards women or Indians. Seems like projecting some 21st century morals on him.
But don't let that stop you from giving it a read. There are some funny scenes and the mysteries (at least 3 of them) are interesting and fun to play along. I recommend it and wouldn't mind hearing more from Sheriff Monk. And I will get started on the Nameless Detective series pronto!
An interesting time indeed. It still feels like the edge of lawless West yet modernization is slowly happening, from cars to electric lights. The Indians are forced into squalid conditions and the women gossip mightily about any woman who might want to stand on her own two feet. Sheriff Monk tries to walk the narrow line to keep everyone placated, but sometimes events just push him too far.
It was a fun quick read. My biggest complaint is one that I just can't stand in my first person mysteries, my preferred point of view. And that's where the narrator thinks he may have solved the puzzle (or puzzles) but doesn't let the reader in on the secret. You know, "Oh, I think I know what happened but first I need some more information" without telling us their suspicions. It just seems a cheap way to generate drama. Maybe the author thinks I should have figured it out by now, but I still don't like it. And it happens in two of the mysteries here. Grrr.
And I also think that Sheriff Monk is just a little too open minded for the sheriff in a small town in the middle of nowhere Montana. You know, all too "live and let live", whether it is attitudes towards women or Indians. Seems like projecting some 21st century morals on him.
But don't let that stop you from giving it a read. There are some funny scenes and the mysteries (at least 3 of them) are interesting and fun to play along. I recommend it and wouldn't mind hearing more from Sheriff Monk. And I will get started on the Nameless Detective series pronto!
March 22, 2020
I don't usually read Westerns, but thought this looked like an interesting mystery. In the midst of hunkering down for COVID-19, I found this a nice diversion when I needed to escape it all for a little while. I will look for other books by Bill Pronzini... when the libraries open again... someday....
January 16, 2020
Nothing interesting happens in the little town of Peaceful Bend in Peaceful Valley, Montana. When the novel opens, the sheriff Lucas Monk introduces his town to the reader - together with a bit of a history of his life and the place - drunken brawls happen but no major crime and no Indian problems lately either. And just in case someone starts wondering, he also mentions the time - mid October, 1914.
The town is exactly what you would expect at that time in the area - small town population, farms around it, a tobacco shop, a few bars, a few women which make Internet look slow when you compare how fast information can get to everyone, a preacher, a telegraph office, a small newspaper - and the first car. Pronzini (or the publisher) classified that as a western and in a lot of ways it is - but it is also just at the time when wagons and horses are starting to be replaced by cars so we have a few Model Ts and other early cars sharing the roads with the old means.
And in this silent place, in the last sunny days for the year, the peace is shattered when within a few days, 5 different crimes take place. First a robbery. Then an attempted murder. Then a murder. The other 2 happen later (one more murder and a smaller infraction involving alcohol) but the three that start the wave seem to almost happen at the same time - the tobacco shop loses a wooden Indian, one of the gossiping ladies almost dies from drinking poisoned buttermilk and the young Charity Axthelm, who everyone believes to have ran away with a peddler, is found dead. And it seems like the three crimes are not connected in any way or form.
Pronzini knows how to write mysteries and this one does not disappoint. It is slower than you would usually expect but it fits both the sheriff and the times so anything else would not have worked as well. By the end of the novel, there is one more death, a wanted murdered is arrested and more than one family loses everything. And despite the number of crimes and the seriousness of most of the story, there are enough subplot that make you laugh (and some where you really want to reach through the page and hit someone on the head...).
It is not hard to figure out some of the crimes - the breadcrumbs are there for you to try but usually you won't be more than a step ahead of Lucas Monk. His solutions come from knowing the people and paying attention and not from being especially talented - and that's what had also kept him in office for more than a decade.
The novel finishes with a look into the next year - the whole novel feels like a remembrance from Monk somewhere in the future - and in places he does show this usual "if only I had" way of thinking when you tell the story knowing where it is going. That final makes it less likely for this to become the first novel in a new series -- it is a standalone for now - but it does not close all the doors.
I grabbed this novel from the library because of its title - and I liked it a lot more than I expected. So if you are looking for a calm and nice mystery, set in the past (so no phones, internet, fast information and what's not) and without a know-it-all to solve everything, give this one a chance.
The town is exactly what you would expect at that time in the area - small town population, farms around it, a tobacco shop, a few bars, a few women which make Internet look slow when you compare how fast information can get to everyone, a preacher, a telegraph office, a small newspaper - and the first car. Pronzini (or the publisher) classified that as a western and in a lot of ways it is - but it is also just at the time when wagons and horses are starting to be replaced by cars so we have a few Model Ts and other early cars sharing the roads with the old means.
And in this silent place, in the last sunny days for the year, the peace is shattered when within a few days, 5 different crimes take place. First a robbery. Then an attempted murder. Then a murder. The other 2 happen later (one more murder and a smaller infraction involving alcohol) but the three that start the wave seem to almost happen at the same time - the tobacco shop loses a wooden Indian, one of the gossiping ladies almost dies from drinking poisoned buttermilk and the young Charity Axthelm, who everyone believes to have ran away with a peddler, is found dead. And it seems like the three crimes are not connected in any way or form.
Pronzini knows how to write mysteries and this one does not disappoint. It is slower than you would usually expect but it fits both the sheriff and the times so anything else would not have worked as well. By the end of the novel, there is one more death, a wanted murdered is arrested and more than one family loses everything. And despite the number of crimes and the seriousness of most of the story, there are enough subplot that make you laugh (and some where you really want to reach through the page and hit someone on the head...).
It is not hard to figure out some of the crimes - the breadcrumbs are there for you to try but usually you won't be more than a step ahead of Lucas Monk. His solutions come from knowing the people and paying attention and not from being especially talented - and that's what had also kept him in office for more than a decade.
The novel finishes with a look into the next year - the whole novel feels like a remembrance from Monk somewhere in the future - and in places he does show this usual "if only I had" way of thinking when you tell the story knowing where it is going. That final makes it less likely for this to become the first novel in a new series -- it is a standalone for now - but it does not close all the doors.
I grabbed this novel from the library because of its title - and I liked it a lot more than I expected. So if you are looking for a calm and nice mystery, set in the past (so no phones, internet, fast information and what's not) and without a know-it-all to solve everything, give this one a chance.
September 3, 2019
This 2019 western by author Bill Pronzini is a change of pace departure from his long running Nameless Detective series. This low key western set in 1914 northwest Montana follows sheriff Lucas Monk during a week of unusual crime activity in Peaceful Valley. Sheriff Monk could have set the pattern for the late Bill Crider's Texas lawman sheriff Dan Rhodes who solved crimes by going around asking questions until the answers merged into a solution. Pronzini could easily give sheriff Monk a series as he could have to his last western protagonist Give-a-Damn Jones (2018). This was a quick enjoyable read.
Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that's just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it. Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn't had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years. That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen. Teenager Charity Axthelm goes missing, Reba Purvis's housekeeper is poisoned with cyanide Reba is sure was meant for her, and Lucas's gut tells him that this is only the beginning. It's not long before the first corpse shows up, bringing the peace in the valley to a thundering end.
Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that's just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it. Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn't had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years. That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen. Teenager Charity Axthelm goes missing, Reba Purvis's housekeeper is poisoned with cyanide Reba is sure was meant for her, and Lucas's gut tells him that this is only the beginning. It's not long before the first corpse shows up, bringing the peace in the valley to a thundering end.
July 12, 2020
The perfect read for a weekend where you just want to relax and escape from today's life. Yes, someone is killed and there is another attempted murder, but Pronzini writes in a style that while you feel bad for the deceased you know the bad guy is going to get it.
Lucas Monk is a great character. He's a law and order sheriff who tries to use reason before he uses his gun. He is secure enough in himself that he has no problem turning matters over to his deputies and letting them take credit. He also engages the townsfolk with his investigations without compromising his evidence.
Through Lucas Pronzini bridges the gap between your classic western and the transition into the early twentieth century in a seamlessly told story. There is something for everyone, from teens on up and men and women in Peaceful Valley Crime Wave.
The townsfolk are a wonderful mix of personalities and Pronzini does a great job introducing his readers to them. Pronzini wraps up things at the end so you know what happened with each character which is kind of sad because I wouldn't mind reading more Lucas Monk stories.
Definitely one you want to read.
Lucas Monk is a great character. He's a law and order sheriff who tries to use reason before he uses his gun. He is secure enough in himself that he has no problem turning matters over to his deputies and letting them take credit. He also engages the townsfolk with his investigations without compromising his evidence.
Through Lucas Pronzini bridges the gap between your classic western and the transition into the early twentieth century in a seamlessly told story. There is something for everyone, from teens on up and men and women in Peaceful Valley Crime Wave.
The townsfolk are a wonderful mix of personalities and Pronzini does a great job introducing his readers to them. Pronzini wraps up things at the end so you know what happened with each character which is kind of sad because I wouldn't mind reading more Lucas Monk stories.
Definitely one you want to read.
April 14, 2020
Audible pandemic freebie. Western mystery set in 1914 in small town Montana. I had never heard of Bill Pronzini, but he has written 40+ mysteries featuring the "Nameless Detective", a private eye in present day San Francisco.
The book starts with a shopowner reporting that someone has stolen his cigar store Indian. Soon, a woman is poisoned with arsenic laced buttermilk, a young woman is found at the bottom of a well, and the young man who may have killed her is a suspicious suicide. Among other things. The humor, the Sheriff's laid back attitude, the town characters, and the nearby Indians reminded me of the Longmire books - although without Vic and Henry. If Walt had lived 100 years ago, he'd probably be like Lucas Monk. The narrator was good, although not as good as George Guidall.
This was literature, but it was a pleasant diversion. If I come across other Pronzini books, I'll give them a try.
The book starts with a shopowner reporting that someone has stolen his cigar store Indian. Soon, a woman is poisoned with arsenic laced buttermilk, a young woman is found at the bottom of a well, and the young man who may have killed her is a suspicious suicide. Among other things. The humor, the Sheriff's laid back attitude, the town characters, and the nearby Indians reminded me of the Longmire books - although without Vic and Henry. If Walt had lived 100 years ago, he'd probably be like Lucas Monk. The narrator was good, although not as good as George Guidall.
This was literature, but it was a pleasant diversion. If I come across other Pronzini books, I'll give them a try.
October 20, 2019
Thank you to Forge Books for this free copy to review!
A Western mystery is not my usual genre. I took this one on vacation though, and had it read in the span of about 24 hours. The writing and plotting is excellent, and I was quickly hooked. Sheriff Lucas Monk is as sharp as Sherlock with a badge. Not much gets past his notice as he investigates this crime wave. I thought the author did a great job at developing 3 different cases within the plot, and yet, it was easy for the reader to follow. I'd describe this as a semi-cozy mystery. The book perhaps gives a bit more detail than a true cozy mystery, but its not too graphic for squeamish readers, like me. This is a stand alone novel, but if Peaceful Valley were to be hit with another crime wave, I'd want to see how Sheriff Monk resolved it. He kept me turning the pages and I throughly enjoyed this one!
A Western mystery is not my usual genre. I took this one on vacation though, and had it read in the span of about 24 hours. The writing and plotting is excellent, and I was quickly hooked. Sheriff Lucas Monk is as sharp as Sherlock with a badge. Not much gets past his notice as he investigates this crime wave. I thought the author did a great job at developing 3 different cases within the plot, and yet, it was easy for the reader to follow. I'd describe this as a semi-cozy mystery. The book perhaps gives a bit more detail than a true cozy mystery, but its not too graphic for squeamish readers, like me. This is a stand alone novel, but if Peaceful Valley were to be hit with another crime wave, I'd want to see how Sheriff Monk resolved it. He kept me turning the pages and I throughly enjoyed this one!
January 2, 2020
This was a delightful western mystery and Pronzini crafts the crime wave into an intriguing mystery. Who stole the cigar store Indian? Who tried to murder the old lady? Who did murder the rancher’s daughter? All of these come together—- some related to the major mystery and others not do much, but all clever and interesting.
This is almost not a western. It is set in World War I era,though the United States has yet to enter the fray. There are automobiles and telephones. Yet the sheriff is old fashioned and persistent i. His detective work. Very little horseback stuff. Yet, the author makes the most of this era.
A delight to read. Nothing spectacular, but thoroughly enjoyable.
This is almost not a western. It is set in World War I era,though the United States has yet to enter the fray. There are automobiles and telephones. Yet the sheriff is old fashioned and persistent i. His detective work. Very little horseback stuff. Yet, the author makes the most of this era.
A delight to read. Nothing spectacular, but thoroughly enjoyable.
November 9, 2019
It’s 1914, and Sheriff Lucas Monk has a nice little gig going in the town of Peaceful Bend, Montana. It’s very peaceful. Until it isn’t. In the span of a few days a cigar store Indian is stolen, the town gossip’s housekeeper is poisoned, and a young woman is found murdered and tossed down an abandoned well. Suddenly there are crimes to solve in Peaceful Bend and Sheriff Monk is under some pressure to git solvin’. In the process we are introduced to a number of the town’s citizenry, the good ones and the butt-pains. Peaceful Valley is a fast easy read, and we are never in doubt that the good sheriff will get to the bottom of everything.
September 4, 2019
Enjoyable standalone western taking place in NW Montana in the fall of 1914. The narrator is sheriff Lucas Monk, who must investigate no less than 5 crimes occurring in the same week. There is the murder of a pregnant girl, a possible attempted poisoning, the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian, hoochmaking and possible related crimes. It is good old-fashioned fun, along with colloquialisms like "ventilating" someone instead of shooting them. It all fits together at the end, thereby ensuring sheriff Monk's re-election, and Peaceful Valley returns to peace once more.
September 10, 2019
Totally meh. Nothing much interesting happens, but at least it happens in 250 pp. Pronzini is a terrific writer, and I enjoyed my time here. However, it's just not that interesting. It's a cozy western.
Is there anything worse than the "something struck me wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, I think I know who did it but not sure" trope? This is a first person narrative, for Heaven's sake. Tell us! I hate that stuff.
Is there anything worse than the "something struck me wrong, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, I think I know who did it but not sure" trope? This is a first person narrative, for Heaven's sake. Tell us! I hate that stuff.
September 24, 2019
An easy day's read of a sheriff who has no real crime to solve for 20 yrs, then to be hit by three crimes. A wooden Indian outside a cigar store disappears, a lady is poisoned and a girl is murdered. The Sheriff slowly proceeds with solving all three. However the town people want quick action, the Sheriff wants to find the real murderer and the cigar storeowner wants to fight the Indians he is sure took his wooden one. .
June 17, 2020
Thank you audible for allowing us to stream for free during the pandemic.
This was kind of a cute little novel. I've never heard of the author, and I have not read a mystery from the old west. it was enjoyable enough. In fact it was more than one mystery it was kind of a few different ones that you weren't sure if they were related or what the tie-in was between them. It made for a good little read.
This was kind of a cute little novel. I've never heard of the author, and I have not read a mystery from the old west. it was enjoyable enough. In fact it was more than one mystery it was kind of a few different ones that you weren't sure if they were related or what the tie-in was between them. It made for a good little read.
June 19, 2024
I wouldn't have read this book cause I usually don't read this type, but I got it as a blind date with a book. And this book is very interesting. This took place in 1914. Lots of stuff happened in this lil town all at once. It had me hooked from beginning to end. And wondering who has been doin all these crimes. The sheriff Lucas is a good sheriff, and he tries hard to get to get the bad guys. And doesn't listen to all the Karen's in Peaceful Valley. If ur thinking bout reading this book, u definitely should.
May 20, 2020
It's a short read about a valley in western America during the early 20th century. The first half of the book was quite interesting, however the second-half gets quite slow. Like the crimes' are not such a big deal. Since it is quarantine time i try to read any book i can get my hands on,but otherwise,this could have been a miss. Not my type i guess.
June 29, 2020
I love old time mysteries and westerns. This was a delightful combination of the two, with the setting being a sleepy little valley in early 1900’s Montana. The use of language and depiction of First Nations people was a bit “rough”, hence the 4 stars but it is period specific I guess. I listened to this book using audible, and the narrator made the book even more enjoyable.
July 9, 2024
Watch out when a detective/sheriff/investigator says "uh-huh" to a potential suspect's answers to questions; they know more than they let on. This story is set in Montana in the 1910s, with changes in the world, societal laws in America, and new technologies affecting daily life. Oh, and there is theft and killing and accusations and missing persons and past crimes to solve.
March 4, 2020
Solid small town crime novel with pretty low stakes, but written in a dialect if the times that makes it very entertaining. I wish there was a littttttttle bit mystery involved but it was definitely a solid read. I now want to check out more books by this author.
November 24, 2023
This was a good flowing story. I liked how the story moved from one idea to another with just the right amount of buildup to keep me interested. It was nice to read about a small town in the early 20th Century. No super heroes, just normal people who deal with life. Recommend
August 26, 2019
Interesting look at a 'crime wave' at an earlier time, with intriguing characters.
October 9, 2019
I really enjoyed this book and hope he writes more adventures for Sheriff Monk.
Read
October 23, 2019This was a good easy read and enjoyable. Good western drama and even humorous 4/5 stars.
October 25, 2019
Good, pretty enjoyable. Low key.
October 28, 2019
A very entertaining cozy.
October 29, 2019
Descriptive dialogue set in the old west marches this murder mystery along. Easy reading.
December 29, 2019
Prozini always a nice read
December 30, 2019
recommend
January 19, 2020
I absolutely love Bill Pronzinis writing. Great book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews