★ Selah Award Winner for Middle-Grade Fiction ★ First published by Zonderkidz
Nick Caden’s vacation at Deadwood Canyon Ghost Town takes a deadly turn toward trouble when the fifteen-year-old finds himself trapped in a livery stable with the infamous outlaw Jesse James. The shooter whirls, aims, and… vanishes. Great theatrics, Nick thinks, except now he’s alone in the hayloft with the bullet-riddled body of Billy the Kid-or so it seems. And by the time he returns with his parents and the sheriff, the body is gone!
No one believes Nick saw a real corpse. ‘This is an authentic Old West ghost town, son, ‘ Sheriff Wyatt Earp explains with a wink. ‘Around these parts, the dead don’t stay dead.’
Soon Nick is caught in a deadly chase-from an abandoned gold mine, through forbidden buffalo hunting grounds, and across Rattlesnake Gulch. Around every turn, he finds another suspect. Will Nick solve the mystery of Billy the Kid’s missing body? Or will the Old West town’s infatuation with Hollywood theatrics and desperate need for tourism income bury the truth forever?
About the author
Eddie is an award-winning author of YA fiction with a knack for crafting suspenseful mysteries and humorous adventures that captivate young readers. Known for his witty storytelling and creative world-building, Eddie is the author of The Caribbean Chronicles, a time-travel pirate fantasy adventure series, and The Caden Chronicles, a supernatural mystery series praised for their wholesome, faith-based, and humorous approach. A seasoned writer, Eddie’s work has earned multiple Selah Awards for tween/teen YA fiction, the INSPY Award, and the Moonbeam Children’s Book Award.Outside of writing, Eddie is a devoted father of two boys, an avid sailor, and a pirate at heart who loves to surf. Married to a girl he met at a stoplight in West Palm Beach during spring break-‘a long time ago in a Ford Galaxy far, far away’-Eddie infuses a great sense of humor and imagination into everything he writes.