Maddie MCDowel and the Missing Mustangs

Award-winning author LuAnn M. Rod brings young rodeo star Maddie McDowell back in a high-flying historical western adventure full of action, mystery, and heart.

Thunderation!

The Monte Decker Rodeo has rolled into Bear Creek, Montana, for the 1919 Fourth of July celebration, and twelve, nearly thirteen-year-old cowgirl Maddie McDowell is raring to compete. But on her way there, she finds an orphan newborn foal, which leads to a brand-new, high-flying mystery for this young Pinkerton in training.

Something, or someone, has spirited away the valley’s Ghost Mountain wild horses, and Maddie and her friends are on the hunt to find out what happened. Not only does she have to keep her promise to the young colt that she’ll find his mother, but she also must return the missing historically unique herd to its home.

All the usual suspects from Maddie’s first rodeo go-round are there. But this time, a World War I flying ace barnstormer has also soared in. The pilot’s familiar face sends Maddie reeling as years of betrayal make her question everything about the man in the airplane – her brother Robert. Will family secrets and hurts prove too much to forgive and forget?

The stakes are life and death for both the mustangs and Maddie as she races to save the horses, win the rodeo, and maybe even learn that family sometimes means risking all.
248 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2026