The Bret King Mystery Series

The Bret King Mystery Series
by Dan Scott


Today's West is just as fascinating as the Old West ever was.  The new Bret King mystery series takes you along on the action-packed adventures of a modern young cowboy and his friends on Rimrock Ranch in New Mexico.  Stories of the great outdoors, written by one of America's most famous Western authors.

                                                                  —publisher series information


The Bret King Mystery series was published by Grosset and Dunlap from 1960 through 1964.  The series was written under the pseudonym of Dan Scott.  According to James Keeline, most and possibly all of the books were written by Squire Omar Barker.  Volumes one through eight were published in hardcover with dust jacket, and volumes one, two, and three were also printed in picture cover.  Volume nine was printed in picture cover.
Titles in the Bret King Series:


  1. The Mystery of Ghost Canyon, 1960
  2. The Secret of Hermit's Peak, 1960
  3. The Range Rodeo Mystery, 1960
  4. The Mystery of Rawhide Gap, 1960
  5. The Mystery at Blizzard Mesa, 1961
  6. The Secret of Fort Pioneer, 1961
  7. The Mystery of the Comanche Caves, 1962
  8. The Phantom of Wolf Creek, 1963
  9. The Mystery of Bandit Gulch, 1964

The first three books can be found without much trouble.  All other books in the series are scarce and difficult to find.

The series is set in modern day New Mexico.  Bret King is eighteen years old.  He lives on Rimrock Ranch with his parents and siblings.  Bret's sister is sixteen-year-old Jennifer, known as Jinx.  Bret's brother is twelve-year-old Rusty.

Bret is known as a "cowboy detective."  Bret's friends, Benny, Andy, and Ace, ride the range with Bret and help Bret solve mysteries.  While the boys most often use horses to track down clues, they also use Bret's airplane and the vehicles owned by Rimrock Ranch.

Summaries
Cover Art Gallery
Bret King Series Article
My Bret King blog posts

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