Law-star for an outlaw

About the book

Irish Delaney left Dancing Flats after a spectacular quarrel with a gambler and the sheriff. Seven years later he returns to find that his uncle Hank Farley has been killed and identified as the masked criminal known as the Ghost Rider. The secretive Night Hawks claim authority to punish wrongdoing, but Irish has reasons to question both their methods and the story attached to Hank's death. His own difficult reputation makes the inquiry more dangerous: old enemies remember his departure, and fresh trouble can easily be blamed on him. Tuttle mixes brisk gunplay with a mystery about who controls the town's account of justice. Irish's loyalty to his uncle draws him toward a conflict in which official position and honest conduct are far from interchangeable.

• Vigilantism and justice
• Family loyalty
• Reputation and suspicion

Why read it

Irish's troubled history with the town complicates every attempt to learn what happened during his absence.

English novelet identified in the receipt as appearing in Giant Western, Fall 1947