36 minAudiobook5 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 36 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Hidden loot tests a small town—and a watchful deputy may see trouble before anyone else.
In One Jump Ahead, Ray Humphreys brings together the pleasures of a Western and a crime puzzle: hidden loot, small-town lawmen, and questions of trust. Something valuable is concealed, someone wants it, and keeping the peace means working out who is honest.
The sheriff stands for order in a place where people know one another. The deputy brings another strength: attention to the small things others miss. As money tests character, the story invites you to watch people closely, follow clues, and try to stay one jump ahead yourself.
What you’ll discover
- A town with secrets Enter a close-knit frontier world where knowing your neighbors does not settle every question.
- The weight of a badge See the pressure on a sheriff expected to keep order without much help.
- A deputy worth watching Follow a lawman whose sharp attention gives small details their place in the mystery.
- Money tests character Consider what hidden loot reveals about honesty and the people drawn to it.
- Room to guess ahead Enjoy the pull of a puzzle that asks you to notice what does not fit.
Who will love it
Readers who like classic whodunits with fair clues, small-town sheriffs, frontier humor and quick plots, and anyone who enjoys guessing the answer a step before the detective does.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A parolee asks the sheriff for help
- A midnight dig stirs up the town
- Rumors and an election close in
- A dropped wallet seems to end the case
Who’s who
- Sheriff Joe CookThe kind but easily worried sheriff of Monte Vista, who wants to solve the buried box case and win reelection.
- Shorty McKayThe sheriff's deputy, calm and observant, who keeps looking for clues when everyone else gives up.
- Manuel PerezA one-legged cattle rustler just out of prison on parole, who asks the sheriff for an honest job.
- Grandpa McMeelAn old former Indian scout who saw two men digging under the bridge and wishes he were more sure of it.
- Fred SpeersA young man who says he watched the diggers from the creek bank with his girlfriend and gives a description.
- Commissioner Bert ClarkA blunt county commissioner who worries about the coming election and tells the sheriff to get out and find clues.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 36 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 5 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Un salto adelante
A sheriff faces a hole under a bridge, a vanished box and an election, while his deputy keeps quietly thinking.
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In short
One Jump Ahead is a short western mystery by Ray Humphreys. It is set in Monte Vista, a town in the San Luis Valley of Colorado, in the days of telephone operators, wagons and new railroads.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A parolee asks the sheriff for help
The story opens early at the sheriff's office in Monte Vista. Manuel Perez waits outside on his wooden leg until Sheriff Joe Cook and Deputy Shorty McKay come up the walk. He has just come out of prison on parole after three years for cattle rustling, and he wears prison clothes and a tired face.
Perez tells the lawmen he has no money, no cattle and a ruined place. He reminds the sheriff of a promise to help him once he got out. Cook has always felt pity for the one-legged rustler, and he agrees at once. He plans to telephone sheep ranchers about a job, and he gets a sworn promise from Perez to stay honest.
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What is One Jump Ahead about?
It is a short western mystery in which two men dig up a long box under a bridge in Monte Vista, Colorado. Sheriff Joe Cook and his deputy, Shorty McKay, try to find out who took it and why.
Where is One Jump Ahead set?
The story takes place in Monte Vista, in Colorado's San Luis Valley. Places such as Coyote Creek, the Third Street bridge, Alamosa and Salida appear, giving the tale the feel of a small Western town.
Who is Shorty McKay in One Jump Ahead?
Shorty McKay is the deputy to Sheriff Joe Cook. He is quiet and watchful, and he checks details that others skip. The title points to him, since he keeps thinking while the sheriff worries.
The author
Ray Humphreys
Writer
Ray Humphreys wrote short western detective fiction. This story shows his world well. It is set in a Colorado valley town of telephone operators, sheep ranchers, county commissioners and elections, and it relies on clues, local color and humor rather than gunfights.
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