Dead Man's Hand Mystery

By Eddie Jones

★ Selah Award Winner for Middle-Grade Fiction ★ first published by Zonderkidz

This is an authentic old west ghost town, son. Around these parts the dead don't stay dead. - Sheriff Wyatt Earp.

Nick Caden's vacation at Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town takes a deadly tu

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dry Bones Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781645269069

Eddie Jones

Eddie is an award-winning author of YA fiction. Father of two boys, he's also a pirate at heart who loves to surf. An avid sailor with a great sense of humor, Eddie has been married to a girl he met at a stoplight in West Palm Beach during spring break a long, long time ago in a Ford Galaxy far, far away. His Caribbean Chronicles series is a humorous time-travel pirate fantasy adventure series. Eddie's Caden Chronicles series is wholesome, humorous reading built around supernatural mysteries.Awards for Eddie's novels:* Winner (multiple times) of the Selah award for tween / teen YA fiction* INSPY Award* Moonbeam Children's Book Award

Book preview

DEDICATION

DEDICATED TO my son Win who encouraged me to swing for the fence. Thanks, buddy. Your word of encouragement on our sail to Beaufort all those years ago means more than you’ll ever know.

SPECIAL THANKS TO … Bennie Jones … who allows me to write and pursue my heart’s desire. Cindy Sproles … who constantly waves her pom poms and cheers me on. Diana Flegal … who believes in this story, my writing, and my passion for young readers. JC, the original Dead Man … whose hand continues to reach out in love to all who have fallen short of His glory. .

A MESSAGE TOR READERS

A MESSAGE TO READERS … Hey, Nick Caden, here. I wrote the 'Murder Mysteries' series with boys my age in mind. If I do not sound and act and talk like you in this book, it’s because I am not you. We’re all different. Some more different than others. (At least that’s what my teacher, Mrs. Overcash, tells me in a not-so-nice way.) This 'Murder Mysteries' series is made up of short murder mysteries with a spiritual supernatural element. The book you’re about to read, Dead Man's Hand, talks about ghosts.  Skull Creek Stakeout deals with vampires. (In case you're wondering, I think the idea that someone could drink blood and live forever began in the Upper Room when Jesus offered his blood and body to his disciples. Obviously he wasn’t talking about becoming a vampire.) Dead Low Tide addresses the stories that dead people can come out of the grave and walk around like zombies. Rumor of a Werewolf is one of my favorite stories. In researching the case of a dead woman in Sleepy Hollow I found out that one time a person was actually turned into an beast-like-animal. A king. It happened a long time ago, but I bet that’s where the werewolf legend began. Anyway, that’s why I write the stories I do. My thinking is this: the really scary things are things that can really happen. And people turning into wolves, dead people coming out of graves, people drinking blood and living forever, and ghosts … all that really happened in the Bible.  Which means the Bible is a pretty scary book. To me, anyway. Hope you like Dead Man's Hand. But if you don’t, leave the book in your school’s library. Maybe one of your classmates can use it under a leg to keep a desk from wobbling.

Chapter

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1

DEAD ON ARRIVAL

S houldn’t be long now, Dad said, tapping the windshield. Just on the other side of those mountains. Through the front glass I saw a white sign that read: WELCOME TO DEADWOOD: GHOST TOWN IN THE SKY.

I slumped in my seat, the vehicle’s rear window reflecting my wild tangle of unruly bangs and bored expression. Beyond the curves ahead lay the ragged spine of the Rockies and green glades of spruce and fir. Dad stomped the accelerator, causing the underpowered engine to whine as we rocketed up the two-lane blacktop toward Deadwood Canyon, where for five fun-filled days we would pan for gold in mountain streams (Pan rentals extra), stalk buffalo herds with Native American guides (Please, do not call your guide an Indian), and learn to shoot and ride with Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and the Dalton Gang.

We cleared the mountain pass and banked around a curve. In the valley below stood a two-story hotel with a red roof and wraparound porch. Next to it a saloon, tannery shop, horse stables, and … what’s that? A bookstore offering a cowboy poetry reading? My younger sister the writer would be so thrilled. For weeks she’d talked of nothing except how much fun we would have on our summer vacation in the not-so-wild west. All I’d thought of was how I wished I could have gone to the video gaming convention in Vegas.

Mom touched the display on the GPS. See, Frank? We’re only two hours late.

Wouldn’t have been late at all, Sylvia, if I hadn’t followed that stupid contraption.

"You are the one who got us lost."

Is it my fault the interstate was closed?

You could have followed the detour signs like everyone else.

And remained behind those eighteen-wheelers for who knows how long. My way was quicker.

Sure, Frank. Whatever you say.

For most of the trip I’d managed to block out my parents bickering with a pair of form-fitted Skullcandy headphones, but a few miles outside of Golden, Colorado, the battery died on my smart phone. Now Mom and Dad were at it again, ripping into each other and setting the tone for our one big happy family vacation. Bored, I stared into the valley at the large, furry bovine grazing on pastureland.

Are those real buffalo? my sister asked.

Bison, I replied. Buffalo are only found in Asia and Africa. Bison used to roam from the Great Bear Lake in Canada’s far northwest to the western boundary of the Appalachian Mountains.

I say they look like buffalo.

At the base of the western side of the mountain range, we entered the wide valley stretching out before us. A couple hundred yards past a road marker pointing toward a national park, Dad turned onto a gravel drive and parked our toaster car under a wooden archway decorated with cow horns and horseshoes. A sign announced: THIS WAY TO GUEST REGISTRATION AND LAZY JACK’S LIVERY STABLE. He pulled up to the guardhouse and rolled down his window, waiting a full five seconds before laying on the horn.

For crying out loud, Frank. Sighing, Mom fanned a hand through her cropped hair (bleached blonde to hide the gray) and fixed her pale gray eyes on Dad, who was drumming the steering wheel.

Just letting them know we’re here.

Dad popped the horn again. Two short beeps followed by a long blast.

Wendy rolled down her window and pointed across a wide meadow. "Look at those cabins. They’re just like I pictured in Comanche and the Cowboy. I hope we get one that backs up to the creek."

I’m sure wherever we stay will be fine, Mom said.

Bet not. Bet we have to use an outhouse and bathe in a creek. They probably don’t even have cell coverage. I reached into my pocket and checked. Sure enough, the status bar said it was still searching for a signal. Figures. I powered it off and slumped in my seat.

Dad gave the horn another loud, long squawk. You’d think for what we’re paying they’d send someone out to greet us.

Mom shot back, Maybe if you weren’t so rude…

Just then a horse and rider came galloping into view. The cowboy aimed his steed toward a hitching post, dismounted, and approached our vehicle with a slow, bow-legged stride.

Howdy folks, I’m Wyatt Earp. You must be the Caden family.

I’m Frank. This is my wife Sylvia and our youngest, Wendy.

The old man peered through Dad’s open window in my direction. And who’s that handsome buckaroo back there?

Buckaroo? Did he really call me a buckaroo?

Dad eyed me in the rearview mirror. Nick, the man asked you a question.

I said, What’s your pony’s name?

Wyatt Earp glanced over his shoulder at the spotted horse. Her? That’s Marge. Named after my first wife. She was a nag too.

I cringed at his lame joke, refusing to give him the benefit of a smile.

Hang this parkin’ pass from your mirror, Wyatt Earp said to Dad. Follow this road over that rise and park behind Lazy Jack’s. Someone’ll come along shortly to meet you and unload your stuff. We got a stagecoach that will take you to your cabin.

Did you hear that, Frank? A stagecoach. I don’t remember reading anything about a stagecoach on the website.

Website’s sort of dated, ma’am. Owner’s niece is supposed to keep it up, but you know how it is with youngins these days. He said this to Mom while eyeing me.

Yep. This is definitely going to be one of the worst vacations ever.

I returned to my gaming magazine. In my review I had given Deadly Encounters two stars, noting its poor graphics and obvious clues.

How old are you, son?

As with all who-done-it murder mystery games, the article began with: the key to solving the crime is discarding red herrings and keeping track of the suspects’ means, motives, and opportunities to commit murder. Remember rule number one for sleuthing: The first suspect you meet is never the killer. Rule number two: Don’t trust rule number one.

Nick, Mr. Earp is talking to you.

Fourteen, I answered without looking up.

Say again?

One four.

Annie’s ‘bout your age. That’s the marshal’s niece. Annie Oakley. Just her stage name. Real name is…well, can’t recall right now, but t’ll come to me. Always does eventually. Two of you probably have a lot in common.

Doubt it.

Resting his elbow on the car roof, he leaned toward Dad as if the two of them were best buds. You folks might want to keep an eye out for Black Bart. I hear tell someone saw him ride into town a few days ago. Haven’t spotted him myself, but your boy there, being a young whippersnapper and all, he could get hurt if he came upon that outlaw unarmed.

Whippersnapper? You kidding me?

Just ‘tween you and me, I think he’ll have more trouble with the brown bears than gunslingers. Still, best to make sure he doesn’t go wanderin’ off.

We understand, Mom answered.

Wyatt Earp reached through the window on Dad’s side of the car and handed him our welcome packet, then waved us through. The gate arm had barely cleared the roof before Dad accelerated and sped off, startling a herd of horses grazing near the fence alongside the drive. How many horses were there? Twenty? Fifty? I wondered how hard it would be to ride one. Or if they’d even let me.

My luck I’ll get a pony.

Dad parked beside Lazy Jack’s Stable and we piled out. My attention was immediately drawn to the deep-throated roar of a high-performance engine. Jogging towards Lazy Jack’s, I heard my sister whining, Daaaaad! Nick’s not helping!

I rounded the corner and looked inside the barn. The yellow Dodge Charger sat parked at the far end of the barn, its hood poking out open bay doors. A black racing stripe ran from the rear to the hood, matching the black spoiler on the trunk. Chrome exhaust pipes peeked from under the chassis, matching the glint of the eighteen-inch polished wheels. Dad was yelling something but his words became lost in the guttural growl of the Hemi’s 425 horsepower, 6.1 liter engine.

The driver shut off the engine and stepped out. For an instant I saw a blur of denim jeans and a checkered shirt in the barn’s shadows. The driver slammed the car door shut and hurried around the corner of the barn and out of sight. I realized the car appeared similar if not identical to the one that had passed us coming up the mountain—the one Mom had said was driving too fast.

Wandering over to the Charger, I listened to the pinging sound of the cooling engine and inhaled the smell of exhaust. Mom called, NICK! WE’RE WAITING!

Shoving my hands in pockets, I turned and started out of the barn, then stopped. Crimson drops splattered the sawdust next to my sneaker. Looking up I saw a smear of red on the rafters. Drip, drip, splat. Elongated drops quivered like dripping paint then fell, turning the beige sawdust a silky brown.

NICK, THE STAGECOACH IS HERE. YOU COMING OR NOT?

Ignoring Mom’s shrill call, I bolted up the stairs, reaching the loft just as Dad laid on the horn. Among the bales of hay a young cowboy lay with his curled fingers resting on his chest, as if trying to plug the hole below his left breast. An expanding stain of crimson was slowly turning the young cowboy’s white shirt darkish brown. The gunshot wound appeared to be fresh. It bubbled like one of the gurgling geysers we had passed on our way through Yellowstone: though with each small eruption it burped less.

With the toe of my sneaker I nudged his scuffed cowboy boot, half-expecting the body to sit up, grin a syrupy-red smile, and spit away plastic capsules. This is a real reenactment Old West ghost town, claimed the brochure Mom had tossed into the backseat for Wendy and me. With real gunfights and bank robberies and stagecoach holdups.

I bumped the bleeding cowboy again and he didn’t move.

Here’s the thing about death that my parents don’t get. Once you lose a couple of friends like I have, you become sort of numb to it. Like the first time, when my friend Teddy Graham got tossed from his mom’s car, a bunch of us lit candles along the front walk of our school. I was pretty torn up about it, but I didn’t show it. Then a few weeks later a boy in my biology class smashed into a tree while snowboarding and died of brain injuries. By the time spring rolled around, I’d lost two more classmates to a mass shooting, but by then I just felt numb—like there was a big scab over my heart.

That’s what I was thinking as I looked at that cowboy: that I should’ve been more bothered by the sight of the body than I was.

A whirring noise caught my attention. Stepping past the bales of hay, I saw a video of a grizzled gunslinger projected on the far wall. He stood with hands by his sides, right palm hovering on the hilt of a revolver. A wide-brim hat cast a shadow over his dark eyes. With his sun-browned face and thick black sideburns, he looked as real as the body behind me. It was obvious the video had been filmed in town. I recognized the saloon in the background.

Slowly the cowboy tilted his head and stared at me as if tracking my movements, making it feel as though he was with me in the loft. His hands hovered over the holstered guns, fingers twitching the way I’d seen in Dad’s collection of Spaghetti Western movies. All that was missing was the hokey soundtrack. In a blur he drew and fired and … vanished. The projector cycled off, leaving me alone in the loft with a real—at least he looked real—dead cowboy.

A horn honked. And honked. And kept honking like someone blasting an air horn at a Chief’s game. It was Dad’s signal that he was tired of waiting. I took a final glance at the dead cowboy’s fixed eyes and bloody shirt and hurried out of the barn, certain of only one thing—this was going to be the best summer vacation ever.

Chapter

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2

AN INVITATION TO MURDER

W hat do you mean there’s a dead cowboy in the barn?

Marshal Walter Buckleberry stood over me. Early forties, maybe older. Silver star above the left breast pocket of a khaki shirt. Pale gray eyes gazed down at me beneath the brim of

Reviews for Dead Man's Hand Mystery

[ftbooklover · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Nick and his family take a vacation to Deadwood Ranch, which is a ranch with shows and entertainment based on the Wild West. Nick is not happy about taking the trip, so as soon as he arrives he is drawn to a sports car that he hears revving in a barn. When he goes up to the hayloft, he sees what he thinks is a murder of one of the performers playing Billy the Kid. Nick reports what he saw, but the body has disappeared and everyone thinks that the actor took another job and left. Nick knows what he saw and once he gets the help of his computer crime solving skills, he decides to investigate what he believes was a murder.

Dead Man's Hand includes a nice mystery with lots of suspects and clues to keep the reader interested. There is also a paranormal aspect that keeps popping up in the story to keep the reader guessing. Nick is a fairly bratty teenager, who is not very likable among other characters who are barely developed, making it difficult to find a reason to enjoy Nick's pursuit of a possible killer. Overall, Dead Man's Hand is an average mystery with an obnoxious protagonist.

[skstiles612 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you are looking for a great mystery for your tween/teen to read this summer then this book is the one for you. This is a book that both boys and girls will enjoy. Nick Caden is doomed to spend his summer vacation with his parents and his young sister Wendy at the Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town in Montana.He can think of nothing more boring. It is supposed to be an old time western ghost town complete with cowboys, re-enactments and history lessons. To me this sounded wonderful. I live in Florida and when I was in my teens we had an old western town in Ocala, Florida called Six Gun Territory. This story immediately took me back to that time and place. I had great memories there. I assumed that since I loved something like that, then maybe a teen would as well. Nick stumbles upon the dead body of Billy the Kid. When he gets the sheriff and they return to the spot, there is no body. He is told that it was probably all a part of the act. Nick doesn’t buy it. In his free time back home he and his friends participate in a Cyber-Super Sleuth club. Solving mysteries is what he does and he is determined to solve this one. He is helped in this adventure by Annabel, also known as Annie Oakley. Her uncle, Marshal Buckleberry deputizes him and allows him to question the tourists as long as he doesn’t mention the dead body. You know that at some point he is going to question the wrong person and that can and will lead to trouble. This is the first book in the Caden Chronicles and not the last one I will read. This is a book I know several of my students will enjoy. From the book we learn that Nick’s family are not Christians. Nick finds a Bible with highlighted passages and begins to question things. This is very light on the Christian end of things. I do hope there is more along that line in the second book. I know as an author myself that balancing on that fine line is very difficult. I do believe that Eddie Jones is up to the challenge. I recommend that tweens, teens and adults read this book. It would definitely make a great summer read.

[brokebookbank · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I won this as a First Reads giveaway. I was given an ARC. The only thing I felt cheated out of was the pictures that are suppose to be included. I could tell since there was place holder text at work. I would have loved to see those pictures. =( For my star rating - I think this book is actually a 3.5 stars. I mean this is a first book in a series which does avoid a lot of problems first books face and it is indeed an enjoyable good read. I will look into the next book in this series, but I have a bit of concern on how that book is going to play out. For specifics, it's at the end of my review under the spoiler link. I'm an adult who love young adult books. I think this is a good book for young readers and adults a like to enjoy. It is on the clean side. So for those of us who like young adult fiction that delves into real issues like [book:Crank|270730] does, this is not it. It's a good clean fun mystery. Think Hardy Boys, only not as lame. Now if you're a parent I do suggest you read this with, before, or along side your child. There are things brought up that you probably want to clarify or talk about like the actual history of the Old West and religion, specifically the Bible being brought up.I really enjoyed this book. Nick Caden was well done. There's a fine line when writing teenage characters, especially for teenage readers. You need the character to be believable and relatable so the character needs to be up to date. On the other hand sometimes with an over load of pop culture references, slang terms and attitude teenage characters will be overdone obviously by an older author trying to come off as cool and hip. The teenage character becomes cringe worthy and a caricature. Thankfully, Nick Caden falls into the former category. He's a relatable believable 14 year old boy. I'm quite fond of him actually. I was won over by his love of NCIS and Criminal Minds.I think basically all the characters were well done. Nick's family and their dynamics was among the high points. I'm a bit iffy on Annie though. She didn't seem to come together very well. Of course, maybe there's just some detail we're missing in her background that really brings her together. She does remain a mystery.I loved the mystery and Nick's stubborn logical view of things. It was refreshing. It actually put me in the mind of Scooby Doo and that's quite a good thing considering how awesome that show was (the original, of course, not that new CGI crap with live actors) and how much I love Scooby Doo. Too often with mysteries you can see it coming from a mile away. Not true in this case. I really was guessing til the end of the book. The plot with it's twists and turns was well done. I have no complaints in this department. It's actually the best part of the book. The part that made me want to keep on reading and find out how it ends. Minor Issues:They never did reveal how the awesome special effects are done. I mean the special effects really were far too advanced for anything we have going currently. The gun part was explained but the whole 'people becoming translucent and dissolving into the ground right in front of visitors' wasn't. Unless we're just suppose to assume they really are ghosts? I guess that's what the line "nagging questions of the ultimate destiny of a person's body, soul and spirit?" in the blurb was getting at. On page 62, there's some dialogue regarding the Bible and some crazy passages in there about ghosts, zombies and vampires. Oh my! It's a great poking fun at some of the outrageous claims in the Bible. I actually didn't know this was billed as Christian fiction until after I read it and was looking into things for my review. So I would advise parents to read it first or with their child in case religious questions/issues comes up. It talks about how things in the Bible can't be proven but doesn't bring up the many things disproved by science.

[rhonda1111 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

starsDead Man's Hand is a fun teenager detective whose family goes on vacation in a Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town. He finds a billy dying from a gunshot but by the time he got the Sheriff to come the body disappeared.Nick Caden is 15 year old whose hobby is solving crimes. Nick and his friends have got plots of detective shows on a computer farm. Then they take real cases and get the facts and the computer rates who likely the killer is.Nick knows he saw a dead guy but no one believes him. But the Sheriff of the Deadwood canyon is letting Nick investigate but he can't talk about a dead body missing around the tourist.Annie is 15 too. She seams to be around when the trouble happens. She just says her Uncle the sheriff asled her to keep an eye on him.Everyone is a suspect in Nick's eyes. He asks for albies,about the missing actor,just tries to find out all he can.The adults are getting annoyed by all of Nick's questions. Nick is having fun trying to figure out where the body might be and who did it.Nick keeps everyone guessing till the end. The adults are ready for Nick to stop. People are laughing at him,No one believes that billy is dead because of messages being left on sheriff's phone.Its a different dective idea. I also liked hearing about the ghost town. Would not mind reading some more books by Eddie Jones based on this one.I was given this ebook to read in exchange for honest review from Netgalley.11/01/2012 PUB Zondervan Imprint ZonderKidz 224 pages recomend for 9 to 12 year old boys.