Deadwood Dead Men

In August 1876, Jack Jones, a reporter for a Chicago newspaper, is assigned to write about the doings of Deadwood, Dakota Territory—an illegal gold camp that knows no law. The lure of gold in the Lakota’s Black Hills draws prospectors and many colorful characters, such as Al Swearengen, Calamity Jane, Colorado Charlie Utter, Seth Bullock, Madame Mustache, and Sol Star, and it also lures crime. After the shocking murder of an acquaintance, Jack Jones begins investigating an entire string of murders that begins with Wild Bill Hickok and leads Jack down a treacherous trail that has him wondering if he won’t be next.

A member of Western Writers of America (WWA), Bill Markley is a staff writer for WWA’s Roundup Magazine. He has written three nonfiction books, and also writes for True West, Wild West, and South Dakota magazines. He earned a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering, has worked in Antarctica, and currently works for the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Raised on a farm near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Bill has always loved history. He reenacts Civil War infantry and frontier cavalry and has participated in movies, including "Dances With Wolves," "Far and Away," and "Gettysburg." Bill and his wife Liz live and work in Pierre, South Dakota, where they have raised two children, now grown. Deadwood Dead Men is Markley’s first novel.