Sam Dawson Mystery

History isn't what it used to be, as photographer Sam Dawson quickly discovers while attempting to unravel the truth surrounding the fatal shooting of a fourteen-year-old boy more than a century ago. Past events and lore compete with stark facts that may have saved a man from the gallows in one of the Old West's most baffling crimes as Steven W. Horn continues his acclaimed Sam Dawson Mystery Series in NO GOOD DEED. A young teacher knew the truth and much more. Maligned by the press and discredited by the politicians, her story was erased from the public record. Reaching out from the grave, she attempts to set the record straight. Haunted by the loss of the love of his life, Sam is reluctant to accept the advances of the beautiful attorney who seeks to correct history and clear her family's name. Nothing is as it seems when Sam-against the advice of his daughter, Sidney-is lured deeper into the politically charged and confusing legal entanglements that obscure the truth. Intertwined in myth and deception, both past and present, Sam returns to what he does best: finding lost graves. But not everyone wants the past exposed. Some skeletons are better left buried.

Sam Dawson believes his life is at a crossroads, and brook trout will show him the way. Fishing the icy mountain streams of southeastern Wyoming is interrupted when fate challenges his life once more. In this third Sam Dawson Mystery, the photographer and his daughter, Sidney, are on a hunt to find the truth behind what caused the death of an innocent little girl. Sam seeks to unravel the expanding mystery while exploring the boundaries of his complicated relationship with Annie George, his former girlfriend and now his publisher. From the unique backdrop of the beautiful and turbulent foothills of Wyoming's Laramie range to the expansive prairies of the Nebraska Sandhills, Sam untangles the web that links the past with the present. Strange happenings in the isolated ranch house that Annie rents from a reclusive rancher, as well as competition for Annie's attention from a handsome animal behaviorist, threaten to deter Sam's investigation.

Skeletons in the closet are sometimes best left undiscovered and undisturbed. Enter at your own risk the closet of Hans Rudolf Gottlieb, Depression-era carnival wrestler and former Olympian who has come to the north woods to die. As he moves silently between the brutally harsh and haunting memories of his past, Hans attempts to keep the many secrets that define his life in this epic story of enduring love and tragic consequences. The author of the award-winning THE PUMPKIN EATER: A SAM DAWSON MYSTERY, Steven W. Horn, continues his blend of dramatic, intelligent, fast-paced storytelling. Photographer Sam Dawson, bored with taking pictures of cemeteries and in defiance of his editor, turns his camera toward the elderly residents of a nursing home. "We're going to see some old people," he tells his drooling bloodhound. "It'll be our little secret." But Sam uncovers more secrets than he bargained for and the disturbing truth that the aged are often not who they appear to be. Sam and his "puddle of dog flesh" will be set upon by wolves and humans alike as Sam, the primary suspect in a resident's murder, exposes decades-long secrets to unravel this Gordian knot of a mystery. WHEN GOOD MEN DIE: A SAM DAWSON MYSTERY races toward a shocking conclusion while challenging the reader to consider the sins of their loved ones' past and to ask questions before it is too late. But be careful, you may not want to hear their answers.

On a day-trip to photograph a forgotten cemetery in eastern Wyoming, Sam Dawson and his daughter Sidney stop for lunch at an isolated cafe with no name in the least populated place in America. Each of the five people in the cafe has a story to tell. Each reveals the haunting secrets in their lives that will overshadow the reality of two murders and the threat of a violent storm-all of which collide on this single afternoon. The mysterious dishwasher seeks revenge against the man who has destroyed his life. The glib and sarcastic waitress has found temporary refuge from an abusive husband. The attractive woman customer is in search of the father who raised then abandoned her. Sam is at a crossroads both in his career and personal life yet continues to fall victim to his emotions and insatiable curiosity. Sidney is losing her vision, hearing, and opportunity for a personal relationship that even her wealth and legal training cannot correct. As in his other award-winning novels, Steven W. Horn perfectly blends humor with pathos and poignancy to probe the depths of human character and the boundaries people will bend or break to protect their secrets and the people they love.

"Wellborn Are My Children" – identical epitaphs on identical tombstones a thousand miles apart – leads photographer Sam Dawson to discover a crime, perhaps the most heinous in U.S. history. More than three-quarters of a century have passed since the undetected mass murders of young women occurred. But the tragedy lives on in this fast-paced journey of discovery. Eugene Eris, the name inscribed on the two tombstones, haunts Sam at every turn. The beautiful geneticist Blair Tennyson helps Sam understand the how and why of genetic manipulation and the dark history of America's attempt to genetically improve the human species. Sam trusts no one except small-town waitress Annie George. But, like Sam, Annie is linked to Eris. Together they race to unearth the graves of a lost cemetery and to expose the mass murders of people who were involved in an experiment much larger and more sinister than Sam envisioned. Steven W. Horn's techno-thriller THE PUMPKIN EATER weaves a story of dark secrets while challenging readers to consider politically charged social issues as the novel races toward an unthinkable ending. The Pumpkin Eater, the nightmarish evil-doer of the past, haunts the present and lingers just below the surface of the future. Who is he? What has he done? Who are his protectors? The tension mounts as Sam navigates toward the shocking conclusion. With THE PUMPKIN EATER, Horn begins the Sam Dawson Mystery series.