Salmon Moon: River of No Return, a novel by Julie Weston, is the sixth in the “A Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery” series. The story takes place in the 1920s along Idaho’s wild Salmon River, known as The River of No Return.
Nellie Burns hires a scow to rescue her husband of only a few weeks, Sheriff Charlie Azgo. They find him in an old abandon house near the shore of Salmon River. A shootout renders one man killed and Charlie injured. The small gang of criminals escape with stolen money and gold, one in a dory on the river, and another on horseback. There is a third thief, but where he or she has gone is a mystery.
Nellie, Charlie, Janie, a nurse, and Ace, the scow’s sweepman, pursue the criminals along the raging river. With them is Nellie’s faithful Black Lab, Moonshine. Although the scow, a large flatbottom wooden boat with square ends, is the best way to travel the river, it’s rough going and at one point Nellie and Moonshine are swept off in a rush of water. They make it to shore, but surviving in the wilds of Idaho can be daunting. You can’t simply stop a boat in that wild river, and the rest of the party is swept downriver in a rush of water.
Thus begins a frantic search for Nellie, and hot pursuit of the thieves who got away. It’s tricky, traveling by river while pursuing thieves. The Salmon dictates when and where they can go ashore. There are fish in the river and wild game on shore, but do they have the equipment to catch enough to sustain them? The river is cold and it’s tough to stay dry while going through churning waters, navigating rapids, and trying to stay clear of large rocks.
Author Julie Weston is a native of Idaho and has family history of Idahoans dating back to the 1870s. Weston and her husband have rafted many northwest rivers, and can speak with authority about the subject.
Salmon Moon: River of No Return, is the last of the “A Nellie Burns and Moonshine Mystery” series. Each book stands alone, but it’s fun to read them in order: Moonshadows, Basque Moon, Moonscape, Miners’ Moon, Moon Bones, and this latest, Salmon Moon. It’s an exciting series, written with personal knowledge about Idaho, a state known for its scenic landscapes and outdoor recreational opportunities, including its wild rivers.