Holmes on the Range: A Mystery
by Steve Hockensmith
It's 1893, and itinerant cowboy brothers Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer are down to their last pennies. So when jobs come open at a ranch run by a secretive, surly foreman, they can't say no. Fortunately, they have a distraction from the hard work and their bad-tempered boss: the Sherlock Holmes stories Old Red has come to love so much.
But when the cowboys come across a dead body on the ranch, Old Red isn't content to keep daydreaming about Holmes. He's determined to catch the killer using his hero's methods. Whether he likes it or not (and mostly he doesn't), Big Red is dragged along for the wild ride as his brother tries to "deducify" his way to the truth. The only thing standing between them and a solution to the mystery: stampedes, rustlers, Holmes-hating aristocrats and a cannibal named "Hungry Bob."
Critical Praise for Holmes on the Range
"Delightfully offbeat." -Entertainment Weekly
"Just when it seemed as if there were no more literary riches to be wrung from Sherlock Holmes, along comes Steve Hockensmith's inspired debut novel...The star of this tale is a fresh narrator's voice that whoops and hollers, dazzling the reader with colorful language, vivid images and hilarious asides. Sherlock Holmes in a Stetson turns out to be a dandy idea." -Hallie Ephron, The Boston Globe
"Sherlockians, Western fans and mystery lovers who enjoy their whodunits leavened with humor should all be delighted by Hockensmith's captivating debut." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
But when the cowboys come across a dead body on the ranch, Old Red isn't content to keep daydreaming about Holmes. He's determined to catch the killer using his hero's methods. Whether he likes it or not (and mostly he doesn't), Big Red is dragged along for the wild ride as his brother tries to "deducify" his way to the truth. The only thing standing between them and a solution to the mystery: stampedes, rustlers, Holmes-hating aristocrats and a cannibal named "Hungry Bob."
Critical Praise for Holmes on the Range
"Delightfully offbeat." -Entertainment Weekly
"Just when it seemed as if there were no more literary riches to be wrung from Sherlock Holmes, along comes Steve Hockensmith's inspired debut novel...The star of this tale is a fresh narrator's voice that whoops and hollers, dazzling the reader with colorful language, vivid images and hilarious asides. Sherlock Holmes in a Stetson turns out to be a dandy idea." -Hallie Ephron, The Boston Globe
"Sherlockians, Western fans and mystery lovers who enjoy their whodunits leavened with humor should all be delighted by Hockensmith's captivating debut." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
