New Release -- THE LAWSONS OF LARAMIE by Stacey Coverstone @PrairieRosePub

Nerves of Steel, Upholder of Justice, and a Fast Gun…Sheriff Sam Lawson—A New Hero for the Old West.

Whether it’s nailing a con artist, tracking down an outlaw, or nabbing a cold-hearted killer, Sam and his wife Bethany have a knack for solving crimes and mysteries—and the lawbreaking is plentiful in rough-and-tumble 1870’s Wyoming Territory.

With his skills of persuasion and her woman’s intuition, they effectively sort out the good guys from the bad, and Sam always catches his man—or woman, as the case may be.

EXCERPT

The Tattooed Lady

     Sheriff Sam Lawson and his wife Bethany knelt beside the body of the tattooed lady. Six feet tall with a neatly trimmed mustache, a short beard, and salt and pepper hair, Sam scrubbed a hand through his whiskers and over the stubble on his cheeks, thinking he'd never seen a woman like her.

     Opal Stevens, age twenty-four, was an exotic-looking creature with a nest of black hair piled on top of her head and a silk rose tucked behind one ear. Her eyebrows were thick, her lips painted blood red. She wore a strapless dress the color of eggplant with sequins stitched along the neckline. Ample bosom. Her entire upper body and arms were covered with tattoos of animals, birds, snakes, and trees. When her dress was lifted, both legs revealed more of the same. A goddess riding a lion was prominently displayed across her upper chest, and a pearl choker necklace graced her slender neck.

     “Who discovered her?” Sam asked Arthur Robinson, owner of the Robinson Three-Ring Circus. His wife, Etta, stood beside him. This was the first circus to come to Laramie in the Wyoming Territory, and Sam and Beth were among the first to see the show. It had been an entertaining afternoon. Until it ended in murder.

     “I did,” answered Arthur. He’d removed his ringmaster’s jacket and wore only an undershirt with suspenders over top. “When she didn’t appear for her act, I knew something was wrong. Opal was the ultimate professional. She would never let an audience down. Guessing she’d taken sick, the show went on without her. I came to check on her when we concluded and found her like this. It’s a stroke of luck that you were in the audience, Sheriff." When his wife shot him a strange look, he added, "What I mean is, so you can determine what happened, and Opal doesn't have to stay in this undignified position for long.”

     “Does anyone besides you and Mrs. Robinson know that Miss Stevens is dead?” Sam asked.

     “No. I didn’t want the troupe to panic.”

     Sam noted sweat beading on the man’s forehead. Aside from talking non-stop with a nervous hitch in his voice, he also gulped a lot.