Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith

I’m not crazy about Sherlock Holmes, and when it comes to all the pastiches the Holmes tales have inspired, until recently I would probably have said that although I liked Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, I really did not need to read any more Holmes knock-offs in this lifetime.

Sometimes, I’m really wrong.

Steve Hockensmith imagines a world where Holmes is a real detective, and unbeknownst to him his biggest fan is an illiterate cowhand working in 1893 Montana. Gustav “Old Red” Amlingmeyer just loves Holmes’s “deducifying,” even if he can only get at the stories by having his little brother “Big Red” read them to him when they turn up in the outhouse paper pile.

When some creepy ranchers come to the saloon where the Amlingmeyers are drinking, Old Red sees the chance to emulate his hero and do some investigating of his own. A case with murders, a cannibal, ornery bad men, and mysterious English dudes ensues, and it’s fun every step of the way.

Big Red is Hockensmith’s Watson. The tale is told through his narration, and he’s a hoot. Gregarious where Old Red is dour and taciturn, strong as an ox, and entirely his own man, it’s hard not to like Big Red. He’s full of cowboy similes that will keep you laughing all along the way. And while Gustav is a more prickly character, readers will come to appreciate both his intelligence and his ideals within a few chapters. The mystery is well done too, but honestly, with these two as the detectives, that’s not so important. I particularly recommend the audiobook, on which narrator William Dufris does a great job voicing his leads (so good that you won’t mind his more suspect female character voices).

Hockensmith has gone on to write several more books in this delightful series, books that take the brothers around western America at the turn of the 20th century.

Check the WRL catalog for Holmes on the Range

Try Holmes on the Range as an audiobook