History Literature / BenSnow

The Ben Snow series by Creator/EdwardDHoch is a series of [[TheWildWest American Old West]] mysteries set around the turn of the [[The20thCentury 20th century]]. Like the Dr. Sam Hawthorne series by the same author, these tales are carefully researched historical pieces, sometimes including real historical characters such as Butch Cassidy. He met another Hoch character, Sam Hawthorne, in "The Problem of the Haunted Teepee".

The Ben Snow series by Creator/EdwardDHoch is a series of [[TheWildWest American Old West]] mysteries set around the turn of the [[TheTwentiethCentury 20th century]]. Like the Dr. Sam Hawthorne series by the same author, these tales are carefully researched historical pieces, sometimes including real historical characters such as Butch Cassidy. He met another Hoch character, Sam Hawthorne, in "The Problem of the Haunted Teepee".

* MonumentalTheft: In "The Vanishing Riverboat", the villain causes a entire riverboat to vanish while it is between two ports.
* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler:"The Phantom Stallion"]] ends this way, with the WhamLine at the end revealing that well after revealing the truth of what happened to the cuckolded husband of the murderess (and son of her victim, who [[HeKnowsTooMuch had found out about the affair]] Ben learns that instead of taking her to the sheriff, her husband gunned down her, her lover and then himself.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: In "Frontier Street", the murderer gives himself away when he says how many times the victim had been struck over the head: something he would not have been able to tell just from looking at the body.

* DangerousDeserter: In "Snow in Yucatan", Ben travels to Mexico in search of Wade Chancer, a deserter from the Rough Riders who is setting himself as a warlord with dreams of overthrowing the Mexican government.

** "Ghost Town" has a sheepman outside of a ghost town claiming that it's haunted as a temporary measure to keep anyone from wandering into the area and stumbling across his plan too rob and kill a band of train robbers.

* AnimalAssassin: A snake in the story ''Suddenly, with Fangs''. [[spoiler:Subverted in that the snake wasn't that interested in attacking, and the intended victim ended up using it on the assassin.]]

* AuthorityInNameOnly: In ''The Phantom Stalion'' bedridden ranch owner Horace Grant has the ultimate say about approving the hirings done by his two sons and foreman but never questions their judgments, and simply appreciates being given the right to give final approval for formalitys sake.

* BittersweetEnding: Stories tend to have Ben lose people he care about to either death or prison, or be force to move out of town due to claims he's Billy the Kid.
* BlowGun: In "The Edge of the Year 1900", a blowgun dart coated in curare is used as the murder weapon. [[spoiler:The murderer actually pressed the dart into the victim in the dark. using the dart was an attempt to frame the blowgun's owner.]]

* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler: ''The Phantom Stallion'']] ends this way, with the WhamLine at the end revealing that well after revealing the truth of what happened to the cuckolded husband of the murderess (and son of her victim, who [[HeKnowsTooMuch had found out about the affair]] Ben learns that instead of taking her to the sheriff, her husband gunned down her, her lover and then himself.

* ScoobyDooHoax: In "The Phantom Stallion", the murderer attempts to make the murder look like [[ThisBearWasFramed an attack by a ghost horse]].
** Another story has a sheepman outside of a ghost town claiming that it's haunted as a temporary measure to keep anyone from wandering into the area and stumbling across his plan too rob and kill a band of train robbers.

* TheNewYearHasCome: "The Edge of the Year 1900" takes place on New Year's Eve 1899, with Ben getting mixed up with a {{Cult}} that believes that the world is going to end, and Ben having to solve a murder that occurs on the stroke of midnight.

* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler: ''The Phantom Stallion'']] ends this way, with the WhamLine at the end revealing that well after revealing the truth of what happened to the {{cuckold}}ed wife of the murderess (and son of her victim, who [[HeKnowsTooMuch had found out about the affair]] Ben learns that instead of taking her to the sheriff, her husband gunned down her, her lover and then himself.

* ClearMyName: Eventually, fed up with always being accused of being Billy the Kid, Snow hires a detective to prove that either the real Billy is dead or track him down if he he survived. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:The apparent real Billy the Kid is involved in the assassination of President [=McKinley=] and Ben is forced to kill him, with there being no evidence left to prove he was Billy the Kid]].

* ClearMyName: Eventually, fed up with always being accused of being Billy the Kid, Snow hires a detective to prove that either the real Billy is dead or track him down if he he survived. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:The apparent real Billy the Kid is involved in the assassination of President McKinley and Ben is forced to kill him, with there being no evidence left to prove he was Billy the Kid]].

* MurderSuicide: [[spoiler: ''The Phantom Stallion'']] ends this way, with the WhamLine at the end revealing that well after revealing the truth of what happened to [[TheCuckold the cuckolded]] wife of the murderess (and son of her victim, who [[HeKnowsTooMuch had found out about the affair]] Ben learns that instead of taking her to the sheriff, her husband gunned down her, her lover and then himself.