Miss Dempsey's School For Gunslingers (Avalon Western) [Hardcover]

I. J. Parnham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Avalon Western | Publication Date: December 30, 2004

When tonic sellers Fergal O'Brien and Randolph McDougal decided to settle in Destiny, they reckoned the new railroad would make Destiny a boomtown, but it only brought an onslaught of surly gunslingers. While Fergal sells his tonic---a universal remedy to cure all ills---Randolph becomes sheriff of the dusty town. Throwing the ruffians in a half-built jail is his solution for dealing with a corrupt mayoral election and ten thousand dollars disappearing from the town coffers.

Her faith in the decency of the town wavering, the schoolteacher, Miss Dempsey, takes it upon herself to clean up Destiny by educating the gunslingers so that they'll learn the error of their ways! After all, she points out to one of her students, knowing how to read is important if one's own name should wind up on a wanted poster.

As Randolph wants to win Miss Dempsey's heart, he grudgingly supports her cause. But Kent Sullivan, his rival for her affections and a showman of homemade historical memorabilia, is always one step ahead of him in providing her school with just the right support. So Randolph turns to his old friend Fergal for help. Can Fergal devise another one of his legendary schemes to resolve all of Randolph's problems, or will he just get them both killed? Will decency be restored to the town of Destiny through Miss Dempsey's school, or will the roughest gunslinger of all be named mayor?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Education, Miss Dempsey believes, is the key to rehabilitating criminals. In particular, she takes this to mean her unique method of teaching at Miss Dempsey's School for Gunslingers. But what self-respecting bad guy can take a town like Destiny seriously when the jail has only three walls? The little town seems to be a magnet for anyone and everyone who's on the wrong side of the law. Thimbleriggers use Destiny as a place to con the citizens--and each other. Underhanded tonic sellers escalate their claims to the public from a universal tonic that will cure all ills to a powerful potion that's able to raise the dead. Destiny's politicians, of course, run the crookedest elections in the Old West. Even the contest for Miss Dempsey's firm but fair hand is as devious as a courtship can get. Parnham's fast-paced, humorous story about a deliciously criminal frontier community won't fail to delight. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Ian Parnham was born in Nottingham, England. For most of his working life he has been an accountant. He now lives a long way from the Wild West in the misty glens and cattle-strewn moors of the northeast of Scotland.

Miss Dempsey's School for Gunslingers is Ian's third book for AVALON.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 186 pages
• Publisher: Avalon (December 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803496907
• ISBN-13: 978-0803496903
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,514,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)