Wed 29 Mar 2017
An Archived Western Review: WILLIAM COLT MacDONALD – Powder Smoke.
Posted by Steve under Reviews , Western Fiction[7] Comments
WILLIAM COLT MacDONALD – Powder Smoke. Berkley Y814, paperback original; 1st printing, August 1953. Berkley Medallion X1718, paperback 1969. Five Star, hardcover, 2005. Leisure, paperback, 2006. (The latter two editions also include the short novel The Son of the Wolf.)
There’s some justification for this book to be included in Al Hubin’s Crime Fiction IV, but I’m sure Al knows best, and in spite of all the criminal activity in it, it’s not.
Most of the tale is taken up with the attempt by “Powder Smoke” Peters, owner of the PSP ranch, to clear young Owen Thorpe from the charges that he killed his brother. The main evidence against Owen is the fact that his gun is found on the ground next to the body, so obviously the case is not that strong to begin with.
The sheriff, Milton Lapps, is not so very bright, and this also helps keep the case alive. (At one point Powder Smoke nicknames him “Mental,” which tells you something about the book, but I’m not sure what.) I kept waiting for the big twist at the end, but even though I know it’s already come and gone, I feel as though I’m still waiting.
March 29th, 2017 at 3:01 pm
I once discussed with Al Hubin what kind of criteria he used to decide whether a western novel was included in his massive bibliography of the field, Crime Fiction IV, or not.
The question came up because lots of the activity in westerns is crime-related. Killings, rustling, train and bank robberies, and so on.
I don’t know if he’s changed his position on this over the years or not, but at the time I asked, one criterion that would have gotten a western in is the presence of law enforcement officer who makes more than appearance.
Another might be how much actual detective work takes place in the book. I don’t believe I asked him about this particular book, but from my review, it sounds like a possibility.
At the present time, 14 of MacDonald’s westerns are included in CFIV, ten of them series entries for Gregory Quist, who was troubleshooter for a railroad.
Many of his almost 70 westerns also included major crime elements, eight of them relating the adventures of Three Mesquiteers, characters that became even more famous in the movies.
March 29th, 2017 at 10:28 pm
MacDonald, W.C. Tuttle, and William McLeod Raine’s often mixed the Western with the mystery sometimes in pretty straight up detective stories with lots of Western elements.
Most of the Gregory Quist and Three Mesquiteers stories have some elementary detective interest.
March 30th, 2017 at 4:46 pm
I have not read much of Raine, but certainly MacDonald I have, and even more of Tuttle Strangely, though, I have never read any of the Three Mesquiteers books, and I don’t know why. Perhaps they never came out in paperback.
March 31st, 2017 at 8:33 am
At least some of the Three Mesquiteers books were released in paperback: THE SUNRISE GUNS, a.k.a. LAW OF THE FORTY-FIVES): https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2011/06/ffb-review-sunrise-guns-aka-law-of.html; GHOST TOWN GOLD: https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2013/07/ffb-review-ghost-town-gold-1935-by.html; and THE SINGING SCORPION.
I’ve only read one of Raine’s: TANGLED TRAILS (https://kevintipplescorner.blogspot.com/2012/02/ffb-review-tangled-trails-western.html)
April 1st, 2017 at 10:55 am
Thanks for the links, Barry. Sorry your comment took so long to show up, but I think the problem is fixed. I enjoyed your reviews, and while I didn’t recognize the first of the two by MacDonald, I must have a copy of the second. I’ll make a point of finding out where it is.
TANGLED TRAILS by Raine you described as a detective story, only incidentally taking place in the West. Hubin agrees. It’s listed in Raines’ CFIV entry, along with 10 or 12 others, some of which are probably nominally westerns also.
March 31st, 2017 at 12:36 pm
W.C. Tuttle’s SHERLOCK OF SAGELAND (Altus Press, 2015) certainly centers around crime and mystery. Many of W.C. Tuttle’s other westerns that I’ve read have mystery elements are part of their plots. And, W.C. Tuttle provides humor in his stories, too! He’s a very underrated writer.
March 31st, 2017 at 1:26 pm
Tuttle’s best known characters were probably Hashknife Hartley and Sleepy Stevens. They were range detectives and I think all of their books are in Hubin. There was even a radio show on Mutual that dramatized their adventures.