Between Girlhood and Womanhood

Westerns

Whispering Smith

by Frank H. SPEARMAN (1859 - 1937)

Whispering Smith, like most of Frank Spearman's western novels (and some non-fiction as well) are set in the world of railroads, in the late 1800's. The main character, Gordon Smith, is a railroad detective; he first appears in this novel, then later in others. This novel was popular enough to be made into film eight times (four being silent) and into a TV series. In this novel, Smith finds that the culprit of the railroad mishaps he is investigating is a close friend, Murray Sinclair. That plot may seem overworked, but Spearman makes it nuanced enough for it to be quite interesting; two interwoven romances are included. The strongest feature of Spearman's novels is probably his beautiful descriptions of the American western landscapes. His character descriptions and plots also hold up well against the other writers of westerns of the early 1900's. (Summary by Bob Rollins)

Listen next episodes of Whispering Smith:
A Midnight Visit , A Sympathetic Ear , Among the Coyotes , At The Door , Back To The Mountains , Closing In , Crawling Stone Wash , Dickie's Ride , Duty , Into The North , McCloud and Dicksie , Pursuit , The Call , The Death of DuSang , The Fight in The Cashe , The Laugh of a Woman , The Man on the Frenchman , The Sunday Murder , Tower W , Wickwire , Williams Cashe