Just north of the border that spring a lone rider arrives
at the small ranch of Bud Quigley. Known only to Bud as Tall Bob (he had made
arrangements to get a horse from Bud a couple of weeks before) the rider has
pushed his horse to the extreme. Initially it is not clear if the horse which
has been grazed by a bullet will survive.
Flush with cash Tall Bob purchases another horse and
directs Bud to kill the chestnut gelding with white socks to avoid
complications. Unable to kill a beautiful horse and always eager to make some
money Bud does his best with some dye to disguise the horse and sells the
chestnut to a travelling man.
While unsure of what happened Bud believes Tall Bob has
run afoul of the law in the U.S. He is correct. Tall Bob has been to Bismarck,
North Dakota where he single handily robbed the First National Bank of a
payroll for the Great Northern Railway. Unfortunately, in trying to get away
Tall Bob accidentally shot and killed the bank manager.
James J. Hill, the imperious president of the Great
Northern is upset, less with the death of the manager than the audacity of a
crook robbing his railway. He already has the Pinkerton's on contract to help
break up union efforts at organizing railroad workers.
Four months after the theft Hill summons William
Pinkerton of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency from Chicago to Saint Paul
to demand progress:
“….
Let’s start moving on this matter. I want my damned money back! Damn it, I don’t
care how much money I have to spend to get it back I want the same damn bills,
the very same pieces of legal tender that were taken from my bank. If you have
to shoot the bastard to bring him in, then shoot the smart bastard right in the
forehead, just like he shot that poor soul who worked for me. Everybody
concerned will be served notice that robbing me doesn’t pay and I’ll be a happy
man again.”
Directed by Hill to take a personal role in the investigation
Pinkerton travels to North Dakota and gathers a team together to conduct the
investigation.
From the bullet casing found at the robbery site the
Pinkerton's decide to look north as well as south of the border.
American police and the Canadian Northwest Mounted Police
confined their investigations to their country and did not venture across the
49th parallel marking the border. The Pinkerton's see no borders in
their investigations. I had not thought about how a private detective agency is
not hamstrung by borders. (It was an era where no one had to be licenced to be
a private detective.) It gives the Pinkerton's far greater flexibility in
investigations.
A lead takes the Pinkerton's to Regina, then a part of the
Assiniboia Territory, and the headquarters of the Northwest Mounted Police.
Where most books speak highly of the Mounties such as the
intrepid Sargeant Durrant Wallace in The
Third Riel Conspiracy by Stephen Legault, which takes place in 1885 and is
partly set in Regina, the Northwest Mounted of Swedes' Ferry are ill-trained and barely able to patrol the plains.
I was caught off guard by the identity of Tall Bob.
Tension builds as the Pinkerton's gather and digest
information.
The conclusion to the book is striking and unusual for a
Western, let alone a Western mystery.
It is a good book. It does not sparkle. It is
historically accurate. It is well worth reading.
I consider it a perfect book for my blog friend, Prashant
C. Trikannad, of the Chess, Comic Books, Crosswords, Books, Music, Cinema blog.
Residing in urban India he has a passion for books set in the old West of
America. This book will let him expand his Western experience to Canada.
****
I am glad to report that Swedes' Ferry becomes the 17th book I have read for the 8th
Canadian Book Challenge (13 books are the Challenge) which is well beyond what
I have read in any previous Canadian Book Challenge. I hope to get more
Canadian books read before the Challenge closes on June 30.
****
This sounds really interesting, Bill! And you raise a very good point about the way detective agencies aren't bound by border restrictions the way some other agencies are.The story may not have sparkled, but I do like historical mysteries that are accurate, and this sounds like a solid plot too. Thanks for the candid review.
ReplyDeleteMargot: Thanks for the comment. Countries around the world zealously limit other nation's police forces from investigating but we have worldwide security firms that simply deploy agents they have in any country where an investigation is ongoing.
DeleteThis book sounds fascinating, Bill. What a discovery!
ReplyDeleteTracyK: Thanks for the comment. It is exciting to come across an unexpected good book.
ReplyDelete