Race for the Dying

August 24, 2009
Veteran mystery writer Havill (the Posadas County and Sheriff Bill Gastner series) delivers a feel-good yarn set in rough-and-tumble 1891 Port McKinney, Wash. Young doctor Thomas Parks travels from Connecticut to work with Dr. John Haines, an old family friend. Almost as soon as he sets foot in town, he gets in a nasty accident that lands him, temporarily, in a wheelchair. Lucky for Thomas, Haines's attractive daughter, Alvina, nurses him back to health, and they strike up a romance as the naïve Thomas begins to suspect that Haines runs a thriving snake oil business. Meanwhile, back at the clinic, Thomas practices frontier medicine and surgery (his duties take him from the veterinary world to being the medical examiner on a murder case). The conclusion to this pleasant and easy read may be a little too pat, but Havill sets up a number of colorful dramatic situations that ought to please readers who take their westerns neat.