Murder in Bozeman
Sam Drexler & Fay Shelby
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Aunt Strawberry Books
ISBN: 0966998820

Since he discovered the secret of time travel, Oz goes back to the American West to solve a mystery for his high school project.

John Bozeman, the founder of the town in Montana that bears his name, was murdered back in 1867. The Blackfeet Indians of that time were blamed for this slaying, & relationships between them & the White settlers have been strained ever since.

Oz has been haunted by strange & scary dreams, & is obsessed about who is his father. After an exhaustive Internet search, he's positive his father either came from Bozeman or was called that. Then he discovers the history of John Bozeman, & decides to make his murder the theme of his school research paper.

Erika's first experience of time travel, as told in Lost in Spillville, left her with less than enthusiasm to give it a try again. When Oz pleads for her to go with him back to 1867 so he can find out what happened to John Bozeman, she refuses & storms out of his grandparents' home.

Oz bombards Erika with emails about the project, & then he plays his trump card by telling her how the Blackfeet have been accused of the murder, & really need their name cleared... until she finally relents & they make preparations by going to Bozeman & heading for the museum, only to get themselves locked up in the old jail... & that's when things really get going... to another time & another place.

Back in the past, Oz finds himself in the middle of a Longhorn run & meets Cowboy Teddy Blue. Then it's off to the saloon where the cowboys wet their whistles & dream about hot baths & women, & clean beds.

Back in real time Erika is left in the museum, & worried about finding Oz. Then a series of notes gives her the instructions she needs to following him into the past.

& then Oz meets John Bozeman wagonmaster & trailblazer, & the adventures just keep going...

Murder in Bozeman is quite a sophisticated tale told by both Oz & Erika, & between them, the wild & dangerous American West comes alive again, in a satisfying read.
(06/05/05)

Rebecca