The Crime of Coy Bell

Library Journal

The prolog seems to indicate that this suspenseful novel of the Southwest has a factual basis. If so, life there in the 1880s and 1890s was grim indeed. Coy Bell, a happy-go-lucky, peaceable cowboy, falls in love with a rancher's wife, Laura May. He moves on, hoping to forget her. After three years, he returns to find an imposter in her place and a horrible conspiracy afoot of which he becomes a victim--a fugitive from the law, labeled a woman killer, yet searching for the real Laura May. This dark novel is lightened by the author's poetic style, evident in his use of local color and details of life in his beloved country. Well worth reading.-- Sister Avila, Acad. of the Holy Angels, Minneapolis

School Library Journal

YA-- If it were not for an accident that broke his leg, Coy Bell might never have become one of the most wanted and misunderstood men in the West. That accident makes him miss the spring branding and, eventually, meet and fall in love with the rancher's wife, Laurel May. Coy leaves the ranch rather than give in to his feelings; a few years later he decides to see how she is, discovers that she and her husband have moved on, and follows her to her new home. Imagine his surprise when the Laurel May he meets up with is an imposter, in cahoots with the evil husband. Brown tells an action-packed story with firsthand knowledge of the life of a cowboy. Coy is a believable, larger-than-life hero; readers will pull for the ill-fated lovers through the many twists of the fast-paced plot. Fans of westerns will find this rich in detail with a full comple ment of well-drawn ``bad guys.'' Don't look for happily-ever-afters.-- Carol Fox, El Dorado High School, KS