Bullets and Lies -- Robert J. Randisi

Talbot Roper's a former Pinkerton agent now acting on his own as a private-eye.  Readers of J. R. Roberts' Gunsmith series may have met Roper already, as he's occasionally appeared as a secondary character.  In the first book of his own series, Roper's asked to locate five men who served in the army with Howard Westover.  Westover received the Medal of Honor, and it seems likely that it will be taken from him by the government.  Roper's job is to get affidavits from the men to attest to the fact that Westover deserves his medal.  

Things don't seem quite right from the very first.  Roper's certain his client (Westover's wife) isn't telling everything.  Besides that, Roper's drawn the interest of the Secret Service. And somebody's taken a shot at him. When he locates the first man on his list, he finds that he's been dead for years.  The second man is killed shortly before Roper arrives, and it's clear that somebody's after the others, as well.

So what you have is a solid mystery plot in a western setting.  Roper travels over a good bit of the country in visiting his client and in locating three of the men he's looking for.  He gets into a number of scrapes along the way, but he's a persistent guy.  He's not afraid to use his gun, though he'd prefer to use his brain.  Eventually he works things out, but not before Randisi has provided some good surprises.

Short chapters, good pacing, and a fine start to a new series.  Fans of the traditional western should get it immediately.

Bonus: Gotta love it that the cover blurb is from Jake Foster!