When Jake Harn arrived in Burkeville, all he wanted was a dry place to sleep and a good meal. Instead he found himself embroiled in a range war he had no choice but to win. Forced into a gunfight with Sonny Burke, youngest son of cattle baron Jeff Burke, Jake quickly finds himself obliged to defend himself against the entire Burke clan, including the hired gun Jack Slade. Wounded, he finds refuge at the ranch of Jim Sterling and his beautiful, hot-tempered daughter Rachel. With the help of Sterling and the few independent ranchers willing to stand up against the Burkes, Harn is able to bring peace to the county, but not without bloodshed. Throughout A Stranger in Burkeville, a colorful cast of minor characters play their parts: unintended sidekick Lattimore Q. (Quincy) Cranbrook, the gun salesman with literary ambitions, Old Jed at the livery stable, the lovely Sarah Garnett, and a small town caf serving the best beef stew west of the Mississippi.