The dime store novels that made Doc Holiday, Wyatt Erp and his brothers famous didn't do the necessary research, and certainly didn't do them justice. Not one to be a spoiler, I don't want to give too much away. You'll learn much about these wild west heroes - their short-comings, their values and their famous relations. Once again, Russell delivers. If you haven't read The Sparrow and its sequel, Children of God, give them a read.

In DOC by Mary Doria Russell, John Henry Holliday is introduced as an only child whose father was a military officer rarely at home and whose mother doted on him. When he was still a child, his mother died, and he was subsequently raised with his aunts and uncles and many cousins in Georgia. He became a dentist and planned to open a practice in Georgia with his cousin. But he had to move out West for health reasons. He was in Texas (where people began calling him “Doc”) for a while.

But our story really begins after Doc moves to Dodge City, Kansas, with the whore (“Big Nose Kate”) who has become his friend. And the story concentrates on his time there, before the famous shootout at the OK Corral in Arizona.

Dodge City is wild and unruly, where saloons abound and gambling is rampant. Although Doc is the only dentist there, he is forced to supplement his income as a card dealer. He makes a lot of money at this but feels guilty taking it.

In walks Wyatt Earp. (Actually, he was there before Doc, but Wyatt was on a manhunt.) He has several brothers, and they all stick pretty close together. Wyatt, alone, does not drink or gamble. He becomes a policeman in Dodge City.

An extremely intelligent and well-liked “black Indian” boy died in a barn fire. Before Wyatt was back in Dodge City, the county sheriff, Bat Masterson, pronounced the death accidental. But Doc saw signs that it wasn’t. Doc tells Wyatt and his brother Morgan, also a policeman, that the boy had suspicious-looking injuries to his head, injuries sustained before the boy died.

This is the mystery: who is guilty of the murder?

I loved this book. And I loved that Russell’s Web site has pictures of the real characters.

Although the book is fiction, it is more fact than I expect most historical fiction to be. Russell even says as much when she thanks the various people who helped her research. So names I’ve known and have seen in movies of the old West for years are now presented after research into who they really were and how they really lived. Heck, even the toothbrush is described (because, after all, Doc is a dentist), which is a foreign object to so many people in Dodge City. Really, Wyatt has never seen one, and Doc has to teach him how to use it. Just think of all the rotten teeth and bad breath in Dodge City!

I’ve read all of Russell’s books, beginning with THE SPARROW. Although all but the first two (THE SPARROW and CHILDREN OF GOD, which is a continuation of THE SPARROW) are different from each other, I’ve noted a couple pleasant similarities.

First, in all but one of her books (DREAMERS OF THE DAY), one of the characters is a priest, a Jesuit. I’m going to have to ask her why the next time I attend one of her book events.
Second, all her books begin with the cast of characters. The fictitious names are italicized. I wish all authors did this.

Did I say I loved this book? Now I’ve added “My Darling Clementine” and “Gunfight at the OK Corral” to my Netflix queue.