An enjoyable quick read about the wild, wild west from today, back to the beginning, and then back to today. I loved the mixture of fiction and nonfiction. If you enjoy learning about the early days of the west, this book will not disappoint. I am adding Durango, Colorado to my bucket list of places to visit. Thank you Doug Twohill!

A Death in Durango by Doug Twohill shows his love of and affection for the Old West. The book is set around a plot of the death of the protagonist's (Jim Barlow) daughter, and then the author adds all the pieces of a good western: families, both evil and sympathetic; Natives; law enforcement; outlaws; and Mormons. Two families, the Vanderhorns and the Stricklands, fictional characters, are intertwined with the history of the area that is obviously important to Twohill. A Death in Durango is an excellent source of local history for anyone who is not familiar with the discovery of Mesa Verde, with the town of present-day Durango in Southwestern Colorado, and with the Native presence, past and present, in the area. There is plenty of violence, greed, lust, and killing that was part of the original invasion of the Rocky Mountain West, but Twohill obviously has an affection for the area and its history and wants his readers to know about it.

When Jim Barlow‘s only child Patty is found dead and it’s called a suicide he flies in to Colorado to find out the truth. He learns that she was dating the man she worked for Buck Strickland and he also learns that all Brooke wasn’t a Boy Scout. As a matter of a fact he is from a long line of bad guys who somehow for all intensive purposes like legitimate business owners. On the other side of the spectrum there’s the Vanderhorn‘s and McAllister‘s who make Durango look respectful. Throughout the book we learned how the families intertwined for good or bad and the stories where they stood on their own but all of that was so very interesting. If you think the Hatfields and McCoys was a great tale you need to read about the Vander horns in the Stricklands they even have a female serial killer in one of the families. this is a true five star read and if you love historical True Crime and otherwise you will love this book. There’s even a bar in town we’re Hop Along Cassidy and the Sundance kid like to spend their spoils. It is rich with history and interesting stories and once I started reading it I couldn’t stop. I truly enjoyed this book. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

A DEATH IN DURANGO is a wonderfully gritty, down to earth western. The writing style flows well, the characters felt very realistic, It's an easy read because the writing style has good flow and the chapters are short. If you like stories set in the old west, you'll enjoy this.

Being a Texan (and a former Colorado resident), I enjoy a good western and really thought I'd love this one. Sadly, A Death in Durango didn't deliver. The storytelling was chaotic. Every chapter introduced a new character or plot, with nothing to provide his/her relationship to the rest of the story. Though billed as “epic,” it was far too short and too un-encompassing to qualify as such. The details and characterization were too sparse to do justice to the history of southwestern Colorado or for me to develop any attachment to any character.

A really exciting western novel with a host of intriguing characters. The 220 pages breeze by and the writing style is highly engaging. The book cover is excellent and I would highly recommend this book to any reader.

A Death in Durango
By Doug Twohill

This is not the type of book I would normally pick up to read – but I am glad I did. Mr. Twohill begins his tale with a New York police detective arriving in Durango, Colorado to solve what he thinks is his daughter's murder. But this is only the frame on which his tale of the history of Durango hangs.

As Jim Barlow tries to investigate, he is stymied at every turn, but in the process he learns much about the history of the area: from the Stricklands and Vanderhorns to Pedro Flores; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; the cliff people known as "Our People"; bank robbers and gold miners and many more interesting characters who shaped the American west. He also learns that payback comes in many forms.

This is a book about reality – but reality is shaped by perspective. As the chapters go back and forth in time, it becomes clear that, in the words of Emmett Strickland, "Out here in the West we all have the freedom to choose whose lies we want to believe." For Mr. Twohill, his truth lies in a great love of the Old West, and he does a great job of convincing the reader.

A Death in Durango by Doug Twohill

This delightful book was fun from start to finish. The chapters are short and each one is a story about the history of Durango. Most circle back to tie in to a previous chapter.

There are prospectors, wranglers, families, sheriffs, outlaws, Indigenous Americans and Mormons. There is lust, greed, success, failure, and,oh,yes, killing. Intrigued, you’ll be planning a trip to Durango and Mesa Verde just to see this historical area of America’s west.

Author Doug Twohill has a tremendous gift for writing and telling tales. I’ll be first in line to read his next book. I won the lottery when I received this ARC from #NetGalleyand #RiverGroveBooks. What a prize! My thanks to both.

DNF at 51%

I really thought I'd love this one, as I'd read another book with an Old-West setting and really loved it. Sadly, this one didn't deliver. The storytelling was chaos. Every chapter was a different character or plot, and by the halfway point, id lost track of who was who. I wasn't invested anymore, I was reading just to read. It did motivate me to try a few more westerns, so there's that at least.

"A Death in Durango" was an interesting title. I was really excited because this Colorado town is one I love to visit. I was somewhat disappointed in that the book seemed to be a series of mostly unconnected stories with a slight connecting thread. Each story was interesting but there was no continuity that I usually look for when reading.

The author, Doug Twohill, acknowledged some things about the book that the reader needs to keep in mind. Rather that try to paraphrase him, I quote them.."The tale that is told in the following pages is roughly based on the stories, facts, legends, myths, and lies of the Old West. It is by no means historically accurate or factually correct, nor intended to be so." It is as he notes evocative of the spirit of the people who lived in the area, at least as far as I know. He acknowledges that some people are real but he makes no pretense that they actually behaved the way they do in the story."

It is not a badly written novel but it is lacking the continuity, that for me is essential for a novel -- one based on fact or pure imagination. It was a quick read and I finished it in a couple of hours. I do not want to discourage readers because nearby Mesa Verde and surrounding countryside is fantastic. As I noted earlier I love Durango and the feel of the West a visitor still gets when there. So maybe if one had not been a frequent visitor, it would seem better.

I enjoyed this story of the Old West. It starts out with a grief stricken dad trying to find answers in Durango. What he learns is how the town came to be and the eternal fight between good and evil.

I think any time someone writes a book and it is published is a feat worth celebrating! Although I enjoy westerns, this mystery-western was not for me. Unfortunately I wasn't able to connect with the writing, it often felt superfluous and wordy. Additionally, I think there could have been more fine tuning in the editing process, so I am not sure how much of this lay on the author as much as the editor. I would recommend this only to that reader that solidly loves a mystery as most readers in the western genre (in my experience) are most interested less in a mystery, than a story set in the time frame of the 19th century.

A father heads out west to find out what really happened to his daughter. The local police say she committed suicide but he doesn’t think so. What follows is a look back on two families influence on Durango. One good and one really evil.
Each chapter tells a different story and all were really interesting. I’m not a big fan of westerns but this was more of a mystery taking place out west. I thought it was good
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

this was a great western novel, it was what I was hoping it would be based on the cover. The cover is beautifully done and was what drew me in, I'm glad I was able to read this as I really enjoyed going on this journey. Doug Twohill has a great writing style and I loved the historical element. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Twohill and really enjoyed this book.

"There was no particular reason one lived and one died, just chance and luck. Such was life in the West. He still couldn’t believe that he had been alone for over twenty years. As his seventy-sixth year drew to a close, the loneliness grew harder every day. He had the satisfaction of a sprawling enterprise with various business interests all over the valley and beyond. The general store and stable had provided enough profits to buy and build the ZVH ranch."