Rawhide Jake: Learning the Ropes (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781432889203)

Rawhide Jake: Learning the Ropes is the first book in a trilogy on the Life and Times of Detective Jonas V. Brighton. Based on a true-life character (1847-1928), it rolls through the adventure of his time in the penitentiary, his first years as understudy to a young and lusty female detective named Jennie Hudson, and learning cowboying and stock detective work with his new partner, Wes Wilson, in northwest Texas.

He and Hudson work two cases. One ends up in controversy and the other makes national news as they solve the Doctor Perry Talbott case. After that Jonas relocates to Texas.

Brighton is a marksman with pistol and rifle, a skill he gained from his Civil War experience. He kills a fellow in self-defense, gains a reputation as a man to avoid, and his partner, Wes, gives him the nickname "Rawhide Jake." The two of them roam the countryside, eliminating rustlers, saving each other's lives more than once, and recovering stolen cattle until they receive orders to go their separate ways.