On the Wrong Track

This is the second book in the series. I started with the first, Holmes on the Range (Holmes on the Range Mysteries)and recommend that you do too. While it works fine to start with this one, if you take them in order you will get the "origin" story straight, and there are a few allusions in the second book that will make more sense. Since after you read one you will surely want to read the other, you might as well take them in order. I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, if not a fanatic, and immediately fell in love with the premise of this series---a cowboy in the Old West reads about Sherlock Holmes and aspires to be like him. The Old West provides a fresh and fertile landscape as the setting for a Holmes style mystery. And the combination of these two great myths and genres holds obvious promise. An inspired choice. The author executes this concept with worthy aplomb and by this second book the characters are our endearing old friends. After all, the joy of being a Holmes fan is only partly in the patented Holmes deductions, and only partly (and even less) in the mysteries themselves. The great joy comes in the characters, whose foibles become as familiar and comfortable to the reader as Holmes' slippers and pipe became to the Great Detective. And just so with Holmes' many successful descendants such as Hercule Poirot and Nero Wolfe. The heroes in this series hew closer to the Holmes model than Poirot and Wolfe, but are admirably colorful and likeable in their own right. "Big Red," who assumes Watson's narrator role, is more of an independant character than Watson, and he spins out the yarn with steady doses of both suspense and humor. You'll keeping turning the pages eagerly with a broad grin on your face. If anything, this second book slightly surpasses the first---introducing some more interesting secondary characters. My 12-year old son and I eagerly await number three.

It's 1893 and the 'modern world', but cowboy Gustav prefers the lure of the road to the railway and holds a very different viewpoint from his brother, who likes the new trains. When they sign on to protect a luxurious train, overcoming a family hatred and fear of them, they find plenty of mystery and drama that ranges from a killer among the passengers to hijackers on the tracks. Another 'Holmes on the Range' blend of Western and mystery, ON THE WRONG TRACK is something different in the mystery world and is a top pick for discriminating mystery libraries looking for an outstanding blend of vivid plot, high drama, and strong characterization. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

Steve Hockensmith resurrects the cowpuncher turned amateur sleuth Amlingmeyer brothers, Gustav known as Old Red and Otto known as Big Red in his latest western themed detective yarn. Gustav, the older brother a dedicated fan of Sherlock Holmes even though illiterate, convinces little brother Otto to take jobs as railroad detectives on the Southern Pacific line. The Southern Pacific has been a frequent target of an outlaw gang called the Give-Em Hells Boys much to the consternation of the railroad execs. They get the job based on the recommendation of an aged, wiry and often inebriated Pinkerton detective of repute, Burl Lockhart, known for toting a pair of pearl handled .44 caliber pistols. The Amlingmeyer brothers get aboard, along with Lockhart and start mixing with an oddball assortment of characters who are passengers on the train. Soon thereafter a murder aboard the train starts a trail of intrigue which Old and Big Red start investigating and "deducifying". A visit by the Give-Em Hells Boys to the train stokes up the action to a fever pitch. Hockensmith uses his droll sense of humor in creating a briskly paced adventure where the colorful characters are not all that they seem to be. The banter and interplay between the brothers is hilarious in that it seems so realistic. He succeeds in recreating the raucous nature of the halcyon days of the 1893 Old West.

This series by Steve Hockensmith is probably the most refreshing take on Sherlock Holmes since Kinky Friedman stopped writing mysteries. Like Kinky's books these stories do not focus on Holmes as a character in the story but as an influence to the protagonist. I hope to see many more books from this author in the near future, he is definately a talent!

Pardner, you need to mosey on down to the tradin' post and rustle yerself up a heap o' Steve Hockensmith. I read _On the Wrong Track_ first, then *immediately* ran out and bought _Holmes on the Range_. The first one has more deductifyin', the second has more action. It'd be a little better to read them in order, but whatever--the important thing is to read them. These books are * Laugh-out-loud funny * Imaginative * Colorful * Fast-paced * With a great cast of characters * And interesting settings And they're pretty darn good mysteries, to boot! You could argue that both books are a wee bit more complicated than they really need to be. As a result, the villains have to do some speechifyin' in the denouements to explain themselves--a hoary tradition of the mystery, and therefore entirely forgivable. That's just about the only flaw I could identify in either volume. It's rare to find a truly original voice in any kind of fiction, and particularly so in such a stylized genre as the mystery. Hockensmith qualifies in spades. I'll be grabbing the next book in the series as soon as it appears.