Tucker's Reckoning

Tucker's Reckoning by Compton, Ralph. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780451465481.

TUCKERS RECKONINGWinner of the 2013 Spur Award for Best Western Short Novel by the Western Writers of America!WITNESS TO AN EXECUTIONEver since he lost his wife and daughter, Samuel Tucker has wandered, drunk and bereft of a reason to go on. Now, far from his native Texas in Oregons Rogue River region, Tucker secretly watches as two men gun down a third. After they leave, he takes the dead mans pistol and makes it to the next town. There, he learns the identity of the murdered man: Payton Farraday, a well-liked local rancher--and the second Farraday shot to death within the last two years. He also becomes a suspect in the shooting. But Emma Farraday, the victims niece, believes in his innocence--and the two must reveal the machinations of some wealthy and powerful men to prove it. If they dont, Emma could lose the ranch and Tucker could lose his life--just when hes found a new reason to live...