The Devil's Marshal

Robert Hale have accepted my latest novel The Devil's Marshal for their Black Horse Western series. I assume it'll be published around December 2013 and it'll be my 28th western with them.

This novel was one of those stories where the title came first. The phrase Devil's Marshal popped into my mind and I just had to write a story to go with it. Unfortunately when I'd finished the first draft I came across a review for a novel called The Devil's Marshal and in one of those Doh! moments I realized I'd read this book years ago and that's probably where the title came from. So I changed the title to Spectre of a Forgotten Lawman and carried on writing.

As it turned out, although the publisher liked the book, the title was too long for them and they requested that it be changed. They suggested The Devil's Marshal would be a good title. So I reckoned that this one was just meant to be!

Here's my draft blurb:

When bounty hunter Brodie Latimer hears that his sister has been accused of murder, he heads to Hamilton for the trial. But before the proceedings start, the only witness who planned to speak up for her is killed and, although Lucinda's innocence is clear to Brodie, in a travesty of justice she is found guilty.


Brodie vows to find the real killer and, as more of Hamilton's leading figures are killed in mysterious circumstances, the clues lead him to suspect Derrick Shelby, a man known as the devil's marshal. The only trouble is, Derrick was killed a year ago. How can Brodie clear his sister's name and bring the guilty to justice when the killer appears to be the spectre of a long dead lawman?

The stunning image above came from here