Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith

Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith, reviewed by Audrey Lewis, Head of Hoyt Library
(St. Martin's Minotaur, 2006,$22.95, 304pg.)

It is Montana, in 1893, and brothers Gustav "Old Red" and Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer both get work at the Bar VR Ranch. "Old Red" listens to his brother read a Sherlock Holmes story in one of the few Harper's Weekly magazines that made its way to the West and becomes an instant convert to The Master's methods of detection. His appetite is fueled by itinerant friends bringing in new Holmes stories as they find them. When the Bar VR Ranch manager, who doesn't do outside work, is killed in a cattle stampede, he shifts from cattle tending to sleuthing. The English owners of the ranch arrive unexpectedly and another ranch hand is found dead in the outhouse. Gustav is in detective heaven.
This delightful mystery will appeal to fans of that genre as well as Western readers and lovers of comic novels. For more information on the author and more stories about the wonderful Brothers Amlingmeyer, visit the website www.stevehockensmith.com.