Sat 14 Jan 2017
A GOLD MEDAL Western Review: HOWARD RIGSBY – The Lone Gun.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western Fiction[6] Comments
HOWARD RIGSBY – The Lone Gun. Gold Medal #542, paperback original; 1st printing, December 1955. Reprinted several times, including Gold Medal T2641, no date stated (1972).
I believe but I am not sure that Howard Rigsby wrote more mysteries and crime fiction than he did westerns, but many of each category were done for Gold Medal, including a number published as by Vechel Howard. This one’s a western, but with a slight change of authorial intent, it could be a detective novel as well. It’s certainly a work of crime fiction.
Murdered by an unknown hand is Mr. Dave Tilton, wealthy but aging cattle rancher just returned from taking a herd to market. Since it’s Sunday when they get back, he refuses to pay off the cowboys working for him until the next day. During the night, however, he is shot and killed, and his money belt is gone.
Blamed by a crooked sheriff is Brooks Cameron, the son of a man who fought for the Confederacy, a fact which still has enough stigma to make him a very convenient scapegoat. The only way to clear his name — and to win the hand of Mary Silk, the preacher’s daughter — is to escape from jail, go on the run, and find the real killer.
Rigsby knew the West well, and he describes it in very fine fashion. But too much of the book consists of nothing more than Brooks riding through the hills alone (note the book’s title) dodging first a determined posse and then an even more determined bounty hunter. This is enjoyable for a while, but unfortunately, one begins to wish for something to happen.
When it does, the conclusion is both (1) not surprising and (2) far too late.
January 14th, 2017 at 9:29 pm
After posting this review I came across a reference to a western movie also called THE LONE GUN. It came out in 1954, though, before this book was published, and was based a story, IMDb says, by L. L. Foreman.
It’s too good a title, obviously, to be used only once!
January 15th, 2017 at 8:58 pm
The Western Detective story has a long tradition. Many Westerns are Crime novels with detective elements, but the detective novel of a sort flourished too.Jackson Gregory, William McLeod Raine, W. C. Tuttle, Bill Pronzini, A. B. Guthrie, and many others.
It hasn’t always been a successful sub genre, but it has been a consistent one.
January 15th, 2017 at 10:28 pm
By no sheer coincidence, David, most of the authors you list are among my favorite Western writers. Many of their books are in Al Hubin’s CRIME FICTION IV too, which is where they belong.
June 1st, 2018 at 1:52 pm
The title was also used by Chuck Adams for a 1964 UK western novel published by John Spencer. The Gold Medal cover painting was used in 1961 on a Swedish translation of LC Granger’s novel Untamed Breed. I would be very happy to know the name of the artist who produced it?
June 1st, 2018 at 4:57 pm
Several online sources say the cover was done by Robert Schulz.
June 3rd, 2018 at 2:06 pm
Many thanks for your answer. It makes sense as one can read the signature RES on the cover art. Seems many of the Gold Medal original covers were used on Swedish translations later on, but as a rule never on the same titles.