I never realized it was part of a series but it was fine, it could have been really interesting for me but I wasn’t invested at all.

Bud tremble is the new sheriff but new does not mean green and he isn’t so new that he didn’t have enough time to lock up one of the worst criminals Laramie County has ever seen but when his double dealing liver Lilly attorney goes to break him out of the jail it starts a bloodbath not soon forgotten in one that will test the new sheriff with the trial by fire but who’s going to get burned is the question? Although I enjoyed this man must die by the John stones I found myself growing bored and not being able to immerse myself in the story like I usually do with these books. I love the Johnstone westerns and I don’t know if it was a bad time and I should try and read it again later I DK I did finish the book and I did like bud Trimmel just found it hard to get into the story I wish I had a better reason as to why but I do not I still enjoyed it and finished it just didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do. I received this book from NetGalley in Kensington Books but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

After touring through more than 250 Johnstone novels, it's been rare for me to enter a series out of order. In this case, I'd missed the first two and with NetGalley.com offering this for a review, I hit another Johnstone trail. Immediately I was lost. This book was a clear indicator that the two previous were needed to be read to really follow the third.

There's an early shooting, which appears to reveal a bad guy. Apparently not. There's some weird camaraderie of the first shooter, in the opening, with the main character, Buck Trammel, that is not explained at all well. I finished the book as confused as I started. Apparently, this is another trial of a different formula for the Johnstone Clan. I believe this is needed, but I am not well aware that the series business they are in can be left wanting without being more clear as to who is who and why.

The story is more complicated than most Johnstone Clan series and that is a very good direction to take. The plot is strong and goes off in different directions keeping the reader wondering what might happen next.
There are a lot of characters to follow. Unfortunately, too many are alike and have very similar written dialogue. The individuals get confusing as to who goes with what.

In this book the city setting is better written than many, but the outdoors are less so.

Overall, this is one of the better Johnstone Clan books with a more imaginative plot to have come out recently.

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 7 out of 10 points.

Johnstone's This Man Must Die is another great addition to their series, A Buck Trammel Western. I believe it deserves five plus stars.

There is no such thing as a bad Johnstone western. Each series is built around main characters whose belief in the law and family is absolute, even if they've had to be reformed to get there. From Preacher, the original mountain man to the Jensen family to Perly Gates, to.....well, you get the point. Many times, characters from one series will show up in another as supporting hands. The communities are true to the era, clothing, guns, food and troubles are all what you'd find if you looked them up in the history books. No two stories are the same, each character or set of characters is unique and so are their stories. The writing is skillful, readers are pulled into the story and you will laugh and cry right along with the characters. I made the mistake of picking up a Johnstone western my uncle was reading. Ive been hooked ever since. Now I share them with my reading family and will continue as long as new Johnstones are released.
If you've not met Buck Trammel, you're missing a seriously determined man who will stop at nothing while enforcing the law. You'd think the criminals would have learned by now.

Buck Trammel is back in This Man Must Die by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone. This is another good western with some not so usual characters, although it feels like the writing is on autopilot I still enjoy this series. It covers some things that most westerns do not and I am all for that. Having read westerns for at least forty years I need something new in the stories to keep me interested. This series has that. I must thank Kensington Books Pinnacle and Netgalley for providing me with another advance copy.

This is another installment of the Buck Trammel story. If you have read previous versions of his story, most if not all of the main characters will be familiar -- friend/opponent Adam Hagen is an integral part of this story as is a nefarious saloonkeeper, Lucien Clay. In this story set in a new locale for Trammel as sheriff of Laramie, WY, he has Clay in jail for his precious bad deeds.

But as in many stories there is always someone willing to help in escape whether it be inside, a lawyer, mayor, or others. In any case Trammel finds him in pursuit of Clay and his accomplice. While it might seem easy, nothing is as it seems at first.

The jailbreak ends up causing major mayhem and injuries...but expect the sheriff to get on his trail, which he does but gets more trouble than he bargains from some unexpected directions as well as those more common. The story is a fast paced one that builds to a climax in a stage waystation and then a chase. Several folks get shot or injured but expect, in the way of most western stories that the good guys will win even along with those not as good!

A most enjoyable and fast read. Definitely recommend it for those familiar with Buck Trammel, former NYC policeman, Pinkerton, and now sheriff in Laramie, Wyoming.

Another winner in the Buck Trammel Western series, it had what I was looking for from the Johnstone's. It had what I was looking for in a Western novel that I felt worked well in the time-period. I enjoyed the characters in this universe and thought it worked well with the other books in the series.

“No,” Bessler corrected him. “He’s just smarter than you expected him to be. I’m not in the habit of underestimating my opponents. Not in a courtroom and never in a gunfight. I expect every man I face to be fully capable of stopping me, which is why I always make it my business to have a plan before the deadly dance starts.”