Over on the Dry Side

Over on the Dry Side is a western novel by Louis L'Amour, published in 1975 and one of his Chantry family stories. It begins with two men, Doby Kernohan and his father, who have come a long way from home in search of somewhere to begin again.

The abandoned cabin they choose looks like the answer to that search until they notice the dead man lying in the front yard. They are in no position to be choosy about their luck or their neighbours, so they stay, and the killing they found turns out to be an omen rather than an accident.

What follows is a cycle of violence that started long before the Kernohans arrived and is about to reach an explosive conclusion, and it involves murder, greed and blood vengeance. A mysterious woman from deep in the surrounding hills and a deadly stranger named Owen Chantry both arrive, and what had looked like good fortune becomes the most dangerous thing that has happened to them. The two of them came looking for a quiet place to begin again and instead inherit an old quarrel that was never theirs.