Rodman Keell US Marshal Special Services Series I

US Marshal Rodman Keell investigates crime against elected officials, ordinary citizens performing work for federal and state authorities and murder. Kidnapping for ransom is on the rise in the west and Rod Keell aims to put a stop to this new game. If he can't, it turns to murder.
Based in Denver, Keell's adventures take him into Wyoming, Utah and Arizona, and, in the story, the kidnapping of a Federal Circuit Judge in Cheyenne leads Rod north. Then, when returning to Denver aboard a southbound train, Keel finds a Denver Banker dead, a pearl handled knife buried in his chest. Investigating a possible suspect in Fort Collins, Keel is pulled back into Cheyenne with the death of a second banker and another pearl handled knife becomes the culprit for Rod's second and third story.
In his fourth adventure, and time off to fish, he stumbles into the murder of an old friend; story five sends Rod on to a small town bank robbery and abduction of its Mayor without financial demands for his return; and finally, a Colorado Congressional House Representative is found hanging near the Utah, Colorado Territories - naked.