Conn Dury has led an exciting life up to his becoming foreman of Kate Lindy's ranch. Having lived in Mexico and moved to the USA, watched his parents murder by Apaches, raised by the Apaches for his formative years and eventually successfully fleeing from them to being rescued by an American military officer who sent him to England for a gentleman's education.

Now he has delivered Lundy's cattle to the rail head but when her brother wants to call on a beautiful woman he saw on the street, he has to cross the line from the side where the cowboys may drink and gamble to the side where the proper citizens live. When he does so, he is killed. Kate plans her revenge and Conn has to help her achieve it without mass killing. ( )

"She looked straight at him, with a smile on her face, and at nineteen the smile of a strange girl is a glory to the blood and a spark to the spirit, carrying a richer wine than any sold across the bar of a frontier saloon."

So begins L'amour's tale of the death of a town.

Not your typical western, with a hero who has been educated in England, raised by Apaches, a veteran of the Civil War, and a former Texas Ranger.

A quick read. I liked it alright. ( )

Product Description Kate Lundy, owner of the Tumbling B, and Conn Dury, her foreman, told Tom the rules: men from the cattle drives are forbidden on the north side of town. People appreciated the money the cowboys spent but thought them too coarse to be near their homes. Enticed to come calling by Linda McDonald, daughter of one of the leading citizens, Tom Lundy broke the law and crossed the line. Later that night, he was dead. Outraged by her brother’s murder, Kate vows to destroy the entire town. But when Aaron McDonald sends east for an army of hired guns, Conn Dury and the men of the Tumbling B soon wonder if the price of Kate’s revenge is too high. From the Inside Flap It was no crime for a young cowboy to want to talk to a pretty girl, but that was what got Tom Lundy killed.  The hard men of the Tumbling B, who had survived stampede and Kiowa lance to drive their herd up from Big Bend country, wanted to burn the town down.  But Kate Lundy, the Tumbling B's owner, had a better plan.  Calling on dozens of seasoned fighters, Kate aimed to strangle the town that lived off cowboy money but had no use for the Texans themselves.  With her rugged foreman, Conn Dury, at her side, the proud and beautiful woman might just stand a chance.  Because Conn Dury knows all about revenge--and in Kate's wild fight he's out to get some of his own. ( )