Murphy's Gold

Murphy #2

by Gary Paulsen

Al Murphy, sheriff of Cinoherville, Colorado, searches for Wangsu, a missing Chinese man, and discovers the case involves a secret gold mine

Genres: Historical Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Sandra Strange · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sheriff Al Murphy is tired of the tired town with its worn out gold mines that never produced much gold, even during the Colorado gold rush. He’s tired of killing felonious punk gunmen and dealing with the lackadaisical merchants in his town. Then the Chinese laundryman’s wife pleads for him to find her husband who has been missing a week. That incident begins this adventure tale, a rather stereotypical tale. The new element is the racial prejudice against the Chinese. The story is ok, though the violence gets brutal in places, but the novel does include the sheriff’s love, to whom he is not married, but should be. Some language may also be offensive. Ironically, the language may offend more than the lack of morality.

[Tim Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m liking this western series by Gary Paulsen and the second installment, Murphy’s Gold, is as good as the first. Paulsen’s mining town of Cincherville is squalid and the title character leans towards depression as he realizes that being a sheriff will lead to certain death sooner than later. Murphy’s is investigating the disappearance of a Chinese laundryman which leads to violence, Murphy in peril and surprising revelations.
These books in the series are short, fast paced and filled with lore about horses and guns, subjects I usually don’t care about but Gary Paulsen makes interesting. I’m looking forward to reading more in this hard-to-find series.
Highly recommended.

[Shannon Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent genre writing from 'ol GP.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Definitely a dark portrayal of a Western mining town and its inhabitants. Good addition of the life of Chinese in the Western mining towns.