Steve Hockensmith seems to be visiting the various sub-genres of mysteries in this Holmes on the Range series, and even with two poorly educated cowhands as Holmes and Watson, it works beautifully. The first book in the series (Holmes on the Range) is a classic mystery with a long list of suspects. The second (On the Wrong Track) is a thriller complete with train robbers and runaway locomotives. The Black Dove is all about the tough private detective trying to unravel a mystery in Chinatown.

These stories are told from the younger Amlingmeyer brother's point of view, and he speaks pitch perfect cowboy. Whenever Big Red slips and uses vernacular that might be a bit ambiguous, he remembers that he's writing these stories for posterity and explains his meaning. Big Red is unvarnished and honest, and has quite the eye for the ladies; his narration has an immediacy and an endearing quality that just draw you right into the story. There are clues to make sense of, dangers to outrun, and-- as always-- plenty of laughter throughout.

If you like mysteries set in the Old West, you can't do any better than Steve Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range. Old Red Amlingmeyer is determined to prove that sometimes a cowboy isn't just a cowboy. Sometimes he's every bit as good as the famous Sherlock Holmes, and this adventure in San Francisco's Chinatown goes a long way to prove it.

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This is book three in a send-off of the great consulting detective. However, in this series Holmes and Watson are portrayed by two brothers: Gustav "Old Red" and Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer.

It is the latter part of the 19th century and Gustav and Otto were enjoying themselves as real American cowboys, when Otto, who is literate, started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories in Harper's magazine to his brother Gustav, who isn't literate. It doesn't help that Gustav, the more serious of the brothers, believes that Holmes is a real person.

Gustav catches the detecting bug and tries to convince Otto to give up just being a cowboy and start investigating crimes in the first novel, "Holmes on the Range." This gets them into one royal mess after another, as Gustav just doesn't know when to quit when the going gets really tough and dangerous. Fortunately, being an expert on reading trail sign helps Gustav unravel crime clues.

"The Black Dove" has our two retired cowboys trying to make their few dollars last in San Francisco after losing their jobs as railroad detectives in the second novel, "On the Wrong Track." While Gustav mopes, Otto keeps hoping he will once again meet the lovely, female railroad detective he fell for. As the saying goes... be careful what you wish for.

While taking a short cut through Chinatown, the brothers see an old friend, a Chinese herbal doctor they met on a train in the second novel. Imagine their surprise when the first thing the Chinese doctor tries to do is kill Otto. However, it was all a mistake, but this is just the beginning of their third adventure, a trail of bodies and numerous narrow escapes for our heroes.

Solving the mystery in this novel requires the brothers to go places they never imagined in a foreign culture, Chinatown, which bewilders them with its customs. Opium dens, herbal medicine shops, slavery, Tongs, hatchetmen and white racists are among the stumbling blocks the brothers and their female companion must overcome before Gustav finally reasons out the motive for the several crimes they uncover.

As with Watson, Otto is the foil for his brother Gustav. Otto does the narration for their adventures and it helps that he has a well developed sense of humor his brother lacks. Otto does a marvelous job keeping the story lighthearted with his numerous asides, even in the face of sometimes certain death.

Even if you are not a fan of the numerous, often more serious, non-Arthur Conan Doyle tales of Holmes, by various authors, you should still read this fun series featuring Big Red and Old Red. There are five novels in the series, followed by a collection of short stories explaining how the cowboy brothers got stampeded into the detecting business in the first place.

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