Jenny Goodnight by Killarney Traynor is a fascinating historical mystery. Jenny Goodnight has just lost her father but, before she can join the rest of her family, she is asked to check on her uncle, Matthew Goodnight, in the town of Legacy. Arriving there, Jenny finds herself in the middle of a war between her uncle, a newspaperman who holds nothing back, and the powerful family who founded the town. This war cannot be won without blood soaking the ground and when a murder occurs, Jenny becomes the prime suspect. Now she has no choice; to save her own neck, she has to step into the line of fire to catch the real killer. But this is a town of secrets and Jenny has her own. There’s a murderer on the loose and they will stop at nothing to keep their own secrets well hidden.

Jenny Goodnight by Killarney Traynor was one of those “wow” books. It isn’t a fast-paced story, at least not to start with, but it does pick up. Every page counts in this story; every page leads neatly to the conclusion without losing you along the way. Killarney Traynor has done a wonderful job with the characters, particularly with Jenny; she’s a likable character you can relate to and you’ll even like her uncle, even though you may want to give him a swift kick in the behind on occasion. This is a steady story that you easily become invested in and you’ll be rooting for Jenny and her uncle all the way through. Great story, I really enjoyed it.

Jenny Goodnight by Killarney Traynor is a historical Western tale that follows its tenacious female protagonist, Genevieve “Jenny” Goodnight. Jenny, a young missionary, is tasked by her aunt following the death of her father to leave her post in order to find her uncle, Matthew Goodnight, in the old frontier town of Legacy. As soon as she sets foot in town she is confronted by the gregarious John Henry Evans, a widower who just a few years prior had lost his wife and child, and a man who dances with Jenny in both body and spirit. The pair work in tandem when the culmination of dueling residents leads to death and Jenny finds herself in a precarious position that could ultimately lead to her own violent end.

Jenny Goodnight is an easy read in which author Killarney Traynor immediately immerses a reader in a frontier world through vivid descriptions. The sights and scents of the old west come alive through a first-person narrative, becoming even more pronounced as Jenny is faced with an unexpected and divisive death. She is alone in a place and at a time that provides no concessions for a single woman, particularly one who is threatened at virtually every turn. The dialogue is natural and does a wonderful job of maintaining tension and speaks of a power that even the determined Jenny is unable to reconcile. In remaining authentic to the time, there is a Christian slant that in no way comes across as contrived. The book does have a reliance on the placement of letters that generally feel as if their sole purpose is to quickly dispatch information to a reader. Overall, this is a story with a lot of pluck that is easy to get in to and I do believe it will be enjoyed by those who appreciate the genre.