Montana winters are cold, icy and unforgiving. But when a tough old rancher freezes to death in the teeth of a savage Montana blizzard, only his grandson believes it was murder. He enlists the help of former newshound and sometimes-carpenter Ben Tripp to start poking around and asking questions to hopefully discover the truth.

Tripp’s search leads him through an Old West that isn’t so old anymore. It’s a land of real estate brokers; Hollywood wannabes; militia units with Belgian automatics; corporate farmers with an eye for the bottomland and the bottom-line; and beautiful women.

Tripp also discovers along the way that some things about the West will never change as he unravels a secret as old as the hills and—at least to some—worth more than life itself.

John Paxson is an author and journalist and a native of the Bitterroot Valley of Western Montana. He and his wife Lucrezia—also a journalist—live in London where John is bureau chief for CBS News.

A Golden Trail of Murder is his second book for AVALON.


Press Reviews for A Golden Trail of Murder:

“As a favor to a friend, Montana fishing guide Ben Tripp investigates an elderly rancher’s death in a blizzard. Only the victim’s grandson doubts that the death was an accident—until Tripp is mugged. After more "accidental" death and a near-miss attack on his home, Tripp rushes to find the killer before his friends—and his new girlfriend—are hurt. Paxson’s story has a good pace, a tough mystery (with an action-packed climax), achingly beautiful descriptions of Montana, and an engaging hero. It includes intriguing views of gold mining, the militia movement, and Internet research. Unfortunately, the criminals and their motives have a hollow ring to them. Still, this is a solid effort that will appeal to fans of western mysteries, especially to readers of C. J. Box's recent ... Open Season.”

- John Rowen, Booklist, May 1, 2001 © American Library Association. All rights reserved

“A GOLDEN TRAIL OF MURDER beautifully captures the new version of the Old West through the eyes of former newspaper man and current carpenter Ben Tripp. “Ben has enough reporter left in him that he can’t resist investigating the death of an old rancher who froze to death in a Montana blizzard. The rancher’s grandson is adamant that the old man would never have been careless enough to get caught that way and Ben gradually uncovers evidence to indicate that the young man is right. “GOLDEN TRAIL pulls the reader in from the opening paragraph. Paxson has created an intriguing mystery, populated with fully-developed, believable characters. He’s obviously done his research on everything from real estate development to militias to agribusiness and seamlessly incorporates those diverse topics into the story. “More than just tell a good story, though, Paxson tells it well. His descriptions of the landscape are wonderfully evocative -- it’s hard not to shiver when he describes a blizzard, impossible not to see the Montana countryside when he describes the view from Ben Tripp’s cabin. He plays out his storyline like a pro and uses language the flows like a Montana stream. His dialogue is as realistic as any I’ve read. “A GOLDEN TRAIL OF MURDER is an excellent choice for both fans of cozies and fans of hard-boiled. One can only hope that it is merely the first of Ben Tripp’s adventures that Paxson will be sharing.”

- BookBrowser, July, 2001

Avalon Mysteries by this author:
A GOLDEN TRAIL OF MURDER
BONES