Review: Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith

Big Red and Old Red are brothers trying to survive in late nineteenth century American wild west. They take jobs as hands for the Sussex Land and Cattle Company. Everything seems to be going just fine, until the bodies start piling up. Old Red, being a fan of the great Sherlock Holmes, sets out to solve the mysteries of the deaths and the Cantlemere Ranch.

Steve Hockensmith has created two fascinating characters in Big and Old Red. Their adventures are interesting and down right fun to read. The story is told primarily through the use of dialogue. Hockensmith has taken great efforts to make the dialogue of the characters representative of the era. This adds to the charm of this book.

This promises to be a wonderful series of books. I have read the next in this series, On the Wrong Track. It is even more amazing than this book. I look forward to reading The Black Dove, the third installment for Big and Old Red. You can also check them out in several short stories featured in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.