"People were puzzled when , in 1995, the Catholic Bishop of Montana announced that he would celebrate Christmas Midnight Mass at the Church of the Mountain Madonna in Muddy Creek."

So begins First Christmas at Muddy Creek. The author then goes on to give every indication that the story which follows took place in Muddy Creek. However, that is not the case. The actual events never took place, and this book is in fact, a work of transposed fiction. And at the end we are told events similar to those described took place in Virginia City.

Why the events were moved to Muddy Creek is never disclosed. Possibly the name Muddy Creek makes for better press. Or perhaps it's just as simple as the idea that something in Muddy Creeks' history caught the authors eye.

As someone who suffered some training as a historian I find this vexing. Medieval writers frequently did the same thing, borrowing here, creating there, but in this case it wasn't exactly what I was expecting.

But lets suppose these things don't bother you, and let us talk about what you get in this book.

The story is about a priest who stomps into town one frosty Christmas Eve with his two mules and party of grungy travelers. He arrives just in time to witness a murder. From Italy, the priest has been in the United States, and the West, long enough that he is not surprised by the violence. The denizens however are more than surprised to find any man of the cloth amongst them. Some are put off by Father Demetrius de Mara's Catholic faith. Others, like the Irish and Welsh miners, are delighted to see him.

But the real story, which is somehow predictable but enticing none the less, is that they forget their differences and almost begrudgingly, one by one, fall into helping clear out one of the larger saloons in order to have a place for midnight services.

Woven into this basic story are the sub-stories of various people and events, including two young lovers, one of whom is a taxi-dancer, the other of whom is a geologist; as well as a family man who has fled the abolitionists troubles of Missouri and Kansas.

The writing is plain. The story telling straightforward. At points I caught what I thought were modern phrases like 'clam up' being used, but I must admit to not being an expert in this era, so the author, who seems quite knowledgeable, might well be correct. There were moments when I despaired and longed for Cormac McCarthy and some gallant prose, but all in all there was enough momentum in the book that it kept me coming back for more.

Not for everyone. The story is sentimental, but at the right time of year it might appeal.

Note: not for young children. Though there is nothing graphic, there is plenty of sexual innuendo and references, and violence. YA - okay.