Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends these murder mysteries set in the West — or a West-like planet.
Salvation
By William C. LangfeldCounterpoint$28February 2026Purchase
From the publisher: A small rural Colorado town is in a state of crisis at the height of winter. Tom Horak has just murdered his best friend, Rust Hawkins. Morris Green, the town’s Lutheran pastor, is experiencing a profound crisis of faith, questioning the very existence of God. And Marshal Thomlison, the local peace officer looking forward to retirement, is now thrown into the middle of a murder investigation.
Following his violent act, Tom retreats to a cabin in the hills, remembering the events of his hardscrabble childhood — a rural upbringing on a ranch with a distant mother and abusive father.
From Marya Johnston, owner: Set in a mountain valley (which I assume is the Gunnison Valley because that is where Langfeld is from), this is a masterful tale of love, revenge, and redemption. Let’s call it a work of “modern Western Noir.” It has all the makings of a great work of noir: the dark theme, the moral grey areas, the main character who is not clearly right or wrong. Langfeld eliminates quotation marks which merges the dialogue into the narrative in a way that draws you right into the character’s experience. While the writing is superb and characterizations are thought-provoking and emotional, the landscapes and spirit of Western Colorado are perfectly evoked.
“The moose, antlerless and long legged, did a slow step through the snow that would have easily come to a man’s thigh. It paused. Sniffed at the air and looked about. Sank its muzzle in the snow, pushed the white to one side then the other, flicked it out ahead.” It’s almost like Langfeld has spent his life outdoors immersing himself in the heart of our part of the world. This book was not written by someone sitting in a stuffy office. I loved it.
The Blue Horse
By Bruce BorgosMinotaur Books$29July 2025Purchase
From the publisher: A helicopter driving a controversial round-up of wild horses suddenly crashes and the pilot is found to have been shot. Then the person coordinating the round-up for the Bureau of Land Management is savagely murdered, buried up to her neck and then trampled to death by the very same wild horses. And there’s no lack of suspects — with the wild horse advocacy group having sworn to protect the horse At Any Cost! Now the state and federal agencies are showing up looking for answers or at least a scapegoat.
Sheriff Porter Beck has had better days.
From Marya Johnston, owner: I picked this book up after I gave the record store owner across the street (a big CJ Box fan) an early copy, and he returned it to me with rave reviews. Though Borgos’ books are set in Lincoln County, Nevada (near Great Basin National Park), the landscapes, people who (sparsely) populate them, and their problems could easily be here in western Colorado. His characters are captivating; from Sheriff Porter Beck’s girlfriend, Charlie Blue Horse and her adopted Ugyher daughter, to the sheriff himself whose eyes are failing, and his dad, the former sheriff, who is just failing.
Borgos is a master of the western idiom and colloquialisms:
“That man works harder than a cat trying to bury a turd on a marble floor.”
“…a piece of white bread soaked with coffee and covered with sugar. ‘Dear God,’ Charlie whispered. ‘What is he eating?’….’That’s a Utah waffle. What, you’ve never had one?’”
This is the third and newest of a series. I didn’t feel I missed anything by not reading the first two books, but I sure want to now!
Outlaw Planet
By M.R. CareyOrbit$19.99November 2025Purchase
From the publisher: This is the story of Bess — or Dog-Bitch Bess as she came to be known. It’s the story of the gun she carried, whose name was Wakeful Slim. It’s the story of the dead man who carried that gun before her and left a piece of himself inside it. And it’s the tale of how she turned from teacher, to renegade, and ultimately to hero.
This is also the tale of the last violent engagements in an interdimensional war — one of the most brutal the multiverse had ever seen.This is how Bess learned the truth about her world. Came to it the hard way, through pain and loss and the reckless spilling of blood, and carried it with her like a brand on her soul. And once she knew it, knew for sure how badly she’d been used, she had no option but to do something about it.
From Didi Herald, bookseller: I love well written, enthralling stories that feature characters who will do what needs to be done. “Outlaw Planet” is a science fiction tale looking like a western that examines how cruelty and political ideology tears apart a civilization. Could what looks like an organic movement have far different roots?
Bess, by all accounts, is an outlaw, a ruthless killer, but she loves with all her heart and when she sees vile and merciless assaults, she jumps in to fix the situation in any way she can. Her world is very much like America of the mid- to late-19th century. It is where an outcast can find a home on the frontier even though the frontier is encroaching on the parched land of the original inhabitants who don’t look like the “civilized” folks of the industrialized part of the isolated continent.
When war engulfs the nation, it begins between two factions, one who wants everything for those in the higher strata of the culture and none for the lowest versus those who want equality and dignity for all. While set on a planet far away in what seems like a time long ago it also parallels some of what is happening now in the U.S., making some astonishing and cautionary points. While reading this rip-roaring yarn they weren’t noticeable but when watching the news and writing this review they became obvious.
THIS WEEK’S BOOK RECS COME FROM:
Out West Books
533 Main St., Grand Junction
outwestbooks.co
Twitter Instagram FacebookAs part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — we’re featuring staff picks from book stores across the state. Read more.
Hence then, the article about out west books suggests titles you might call western noir was published today ( ) and is available on Colorado Sun ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Out West Books suggests titles you might call Western Noir )
Also on site :