History Literature / TheWesternMysteries

* GenderNeutralWriting: [[spoiler:Pinky always uses the first person for self-reference, which is gender neutral. Other characters tend to think Pinky is male and refer to Pinky as "he" and "him". This article tries to avoid pronouns for Pinky altogether, which sometimes makes for some very awkward writing.]]

* TheNarrator: The story is told in [[PointOfView first person]] with Pinky as the narrator.

* MixedAncestry: Pinky is half-Sioux, half-White
* MysteryFiction and DetectiveDrama: The books are mystery stories set in the American Old West.

* MysteryArc, MysteryFiction and DetectiveDrama: The books are mystery stories set in the American Old West.

* AmateurSleuth - Pinky
* AmbiguousGender - [[spoiler:Pinky might be a female disguised as a boy. [[WordOfGod Caroline Lawrence states]] that she is being intentionally vague about Pinky's gender.]]
* AmoralAttorney - Pinky's father calls lawyers "The Devil's Own" and Pinky accepts this view.
* AsTheGoodBookSays - Pinky references the Bible several times, which is to be expected from the foster child of a Methodist preacher.
* BadSamaritan - [[spoiler:Belle Donne]]
* AttractiveBentGender - When dressed as a girl, Pinky attracts the attentions of a local boy. When dressed as a boy, Pinky attracts the attentions of a local girl. These leads Pinky to comment that everyone in Virginia City is either trying to kill you or kiss you.
* BonusMaterial - The book contains a glossary for period specific terms
* TheBully - Olaf, Abe and Charlie

* ChineseLaunderer - Virginia City is full of Chinese laundries, and Pinky tries to hide in one.
* ConvenientlyAnOrphan - Pinky's birth mother is dead and Pinky's father is missing and presumed dead. To make things worse, Pinky's foster parents are scalped and killed at the beginning of the first book.
* DisneyVillainDeath - [[spoiler:Whittlin Walt dies by falling down a pit in a mine.]]
* DisguisedInDrag - One of the many costumes Pinky wears is a dress and a wig. [[spoiler: Of course, if Pinky is really a girl, that would be case of a WholesomeCrossdresser doing RecursiveCrossdressing.]]
* DoomedHometown - Pinky's foster parents are killed by outlaws at the begining of the first book, forcing Pinky to go on the run.
* DramaticDeadpan - Much of PK's dialogue and narration.
* {{Fingore}} - A character has the tip of his finger chopped off, which goes flying and lands on Pinky's plate.
* FreeRangeChildren - Pinky, with no adult guardians left alive after the first few chapters of the book
* GenderNeutralWriting - [[spoiler:Pinky always uses the first person for self-reference, which is gender neutral. Other characters tend to think Pinky is male and refer to Pinky as "he" and "him". This article tries to avoid pronouns for Pinky altogether, which sometimes makes for some very awkward writing.]]
* GoodWithNumbers - PK is exceptionally skilled at mental math.
* HandCannon - One character uses a Le Mat Revolver, which in addition to a nine-chambered cylinder and a regular barrel, had a central shotgun barrel, fired by a special pivoting striker.
* HappilyAdopted - Pinky was adopted by a preacher and his wife and seems to have been quite happy about it.
* HarmfulToMinors - Pinky comes home to find both parents scalped.
* TheHero - Pinky
* HistoricalFiction - Set in Virginia City, 1862
* HistoricalDomainCharacter - [[Creator/MarkTwain Samuel Clemens]] appears as a newspaper reporter new in town and looking for a scoop.
* HookerWithAHeartOfGold - "Soiled Dove" Belle Donne helps PK hide from Whittlin Walt. [[spoiler: However she then robs him. Twice. So, at best she has a heart of silver. Or maybe a heart in need of silver to help pay her opium habit. She could be considered a partial subversion of this trope, however it looks like she might mend her ways at the end of the story.]]
* InstantDeathBullet - Very intentionally averted, as was ImprobableAimingSkills. Caroline Lawrence made a point of consulting with experts on period firearms.
* KidDetective - It is Pinky's ambition to become a detective. [[spoiler: At the end of the first book, he sets up his own private detective business.]]
* KidHero - Pinky is only 12.
* LittleStowaway - Pinky sneaks onto a stagecoach. The driver doesn't mind once he recognizes Pinky.
* LittleUselessGun - Pinky carriers a seven shot .22 revolver, which he had been told was impossible to hit anything with. [[spoiler: It turns out that in the hands of an experienced gunman firing from only a few feet away, it is perfectly possible to hit someone with it. The only problem was that the gunman in question was shooting at Pinky .]]
* LukeIAmYourFather - [[spoiler: Subverted. Whittlin Walt tries to convince PK that he is PK's father. It doesn't work.]]
* MacGuffin - The contents of Pinky's medicine bag, specifically [[spoiler: A letter that claims to grant "The Bearer" ownership of most of the silver mines in Virginia City.]]
* MeaningfulName - The name "Pinkerton" associates PK with the PinkertonDetective, both in the minds of historically informed readers in in Pinky's own mind. Pinky believes that Alan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkertons, is Pinky's uncle.
* MixedAncestry - Pinky is half-Sioux, half-White
* MysteryArc, MysteryFiction and DetectiveDrama - The books are mystery stories set in the American Old West.
* TheNarrator - The story is told in [[PointOfView first person]] with Pinky as the narrator.
* NarrativeProfanityFilter - A variety of ways are used to make it clear a character is swearing without actually writing the swear word, including replacing letters with dashes and making reference to "language not fit for publication."
* OrphansPlotTrinket - In addition to the MacGuffin, Pinky has a copper railroad detective uniform button that belongs to Pinky's father.
* {{Outlaw}} - "Whittlin Walt" Darmitage and his two {{Mooks}}, though they don't seem to have a problem with making an appearance in town.
* ParentalAbandonment - See ConvenientlyAnOrphan
* PocketProtector - [[spoiler: Poker Face Jace is saved from a gunshot wound by a deck of cards in his pocket.]]
* PonyExpressRider - Referenced by not used directly. The Pony Express was replaced by the telegraph about a year before the story begins.
* PreachersKid - PK is the foster child of a Methodist PreacherMan.
* PinkertonDetective - PK believes that the elder brother of Alan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton Detectives, is his real father. Because of this, PK wants to become a PinkertonDetective.
* ProfessionalGambler - Poker Face Jace
* {{Prospector}} - Being a silver mining boom town, there are quite a few living in Virginia City.
* RagsToRiches - [[spoiler:More like modest comfort to rags to riches, all in the course of a few days.]]
* RecountedByTheMainCharacters - The introduction to the book claims that the series is based on ledgers found by Caroline Lawrence in an attic. Caroline than goes on to {{lampshade}} this by referring to Creator/MarkTwain's habit of publishing fictional stories as is they were true stories.
* {{Schoolmarm}} - School marms are referenced but so far have not played a major role.
* SaloonOwner - According to Pinky's foster father, the most respected person in Virginia City is the SaloonOwner.
* SnoopingLittleKid - Pinky
* TheSheriff - Referenced but so far has not appeared "on screen".
* UnreliableNarrator - Pinky, according to WordOfGod
* WantedPoster - There is a wanted poster for Whittlin Walt offering a $2000 award.
* TheWestern and TheWildWest - Caroline Lawrence tries to balance Western fiction tropes and historically accurate portrayals of Virginia City Nevada in 1862,
* WretchedHive - Pinky's father describes Virginia City as "Satan's Playground" and "...the vilest place, worse than San Francisco." He isn't far from the truth.
* ZillionDollarBill - [[spoiler: PK inherited a document claiming to be a deed for most of the mining areas around Virginia City. If he could make such a claim stick, he would become a millionaire.]]

* [[spoiler: AmbiguousGender - Pinky might be a female disguised as a boy. [[WordOfGod Caroline Lawrence states]] that she is being intentionally vague about Pinky's gender.]]

* [[spoiler: BadSamaritan - Belle Donne]]

* [[spoiler: DisneyVillainDeath - Whittlin Walt dies by falling down a pit in a mine.]]

* [[spoiler: GenderNeutralWriting - Pinky always uses the first person for self-reference, which is gender neutral. Other characters tend to think Pinky is male and refer to Pinky as "he" and "him". This article tries to avoid pronouns for Pinky altogether, which sometimes makes for some very awkward writing.]]

* [[spoiler: RagsToRiches - More like modest comfort to rags to riches, all in the course of a few days.]]

* {{Poker}} - [[spoiler: Poker Face Jace uses Pinky to spy on the feet of his poker opponents in order to pick up tells that would be blocked by a table.]]

This series by Caroline Lawrence is set in the Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. The series has also been published as ''The P.K. Pinkerton Mysteries''. It follows the adventures of PK "Pinky" Pinkerton , an autistic savant, half-Sioux, KidDetective. PK was orphaned at a young age, and was adopted by a kindly preacher and his wife. However, when a gang of outlaws shows up looking for something valuable, PK is forced to flee to Virginia City, a frontier mining town full of outlaws, soiled doves, prospectors, gunmen, gamblers, Chinese and even a [[MarkTwain newspaper reporter with a fondness for witticism and tall tales]].

* HistoricalDomainCharacter - [[MarkTwain Samuel Clemens]] appears as a newspaper reporter new in town and looking for a scoop.

* RecountedByTheMainCharacters - The introduction to the book claims that the series is based on ledgers found by Caroline Lawrence in an attic. Caroline than goes on to {{lampshade}} this by referring to MarkTwain's habit of publishing fictional stories as is they were true stories.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pk_7881.gif]]

This series by Caroline Lawrence is set in the Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. It follows the adventures of PK "Pinky" Pinkerton , an autistic savant, half-Sioux, KidDetective. PK was orphaned at a young age, and was adopted by a kindly preacher and his wife. However, when a gang of outlaws shows up looking for something valuable, PK is forced to flee to Virginia City, a frontier mining town full of outlaws, soiled doves, prospectors, gunmen, gamblers, Chinese and even a [[MarkTwain newspaper reporter with a fondness for witticism and tall tales]].

This series is set in the Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. It follows the adventures of PK "Pinky" Pinkerton , an autistic savant, half-Sioux, KidDetective. PK was orphaned at a young age, and was adopted by a kindly preacher and his wife. However, when a gang of outlaws shows up looking for something valuable, PK is forced to flee to Virginia City, a frontier mining town full of outlaws, soiled doves, prospectors, gunmen, gamblers, Chinese and even a [[MarkTwain newspaper reporter with a fondness for witticism and tall tales]].

Caroline Lawrence has a contract for four books, and has not ruled out writing even more books. The first book in the series, ''The Case of the Deadly Desperados'', was released in the UK on the 2nd of June, 2011. The US release date will be in 2012.

* HalfBreed - Pinky is half-Sioux, half-White

* [[{{ptitlemmu9l6ginfls}} Orphan's Plot Trinket]] - In addition to the MacGuffin, Pinky has a copper railroad detective uniform button that belongs to Pinky's father.

Caroline Lawrence is also the author of ''Literature/TheRomanMysteries''.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pk_7881.gif

[[quoteright:140:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/deadly_desperados_final_cover_copy_159.jpg]]

* [[ABirthdayNotABreak A Birthday, Not A Break]]: HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY PINKY

This series is set in the Nevada Territory in the early 1860s. It follows the adventures of PK "Pinky" Pinkerton , a half-Sioux, would-be detective. PK was orphaned at a young age, and was adopted by a kindly preacher and his wife. However, when a gang of outlaws shows up looking for something valuable, PK is forced to flee to Virginia City, a frontier mining town full of outlaws, soiled doves, prospectors, gunmen, gamblers, Chinese and even a [[MarkTwain newspaper reporter with a fondness for witticism and tall tales]].

* {{Prospector}} - Being a silver mining boom town, there are quite a few living in Virginia City.
* TheRainman - PK is brilliant at a number of things, including math, but is bad at expressing emotion or understanding other's emotions.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis - The introduction to the book claims that the series is based on ledgers found by Caroline Lawrence in an attic. Caroline than goes on to {{lampshade}} this by referring to MarkTwain's habit of publishing fictional stories as is they were true stories.

* [[{{Ptitle1e7k86g4}} Preacher's Kid]] - PK is the foster child of a Methodist PreacherMan.

* PlayingWith/AmbiguouslyAutistic - Pinky has problems expressing emotions and understanding the emotions of others. Pinky also HatesBeingTouched. [[WordOfGod Caroline Lawrence states]] that PK is autistic, but of course there was no diagnoses for autism in 1862 so Pinky will never be called autistic within the stories.