The Assassination of Governor Boggs

This fast-paced historical mystery had me turning pages as quickly as I could to keep up with the story of a war-crippled Pinkerton detective traveling throughout the American West, seeking clues in this case gone cold. The folks he meets, many of whom are legends themselves, recount their memories of the events of the incomplete assassination, each in his own voice and way, whether they were a sheriff, an attorney, or a passer-by.

In that time, when the Mormon Church was getting its start and trying to survive among neighbors who didn't much like them--and vice versa--government on the frontier pretty much ignored the written law and took it into their own hands in order to shake loose an irritating burr under their saddle: a large, united body of folks with strange beliefs and ways. Governor Boggs hated the Mormons, and made no secret of that fact, acting on his hate in some pretty bizarre pronouncements and orders. In return, the Mormons, under his persecution, returned…