Holmes on the Range Mysteries (Playaway)
2 total works
Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer is an old-fashioned kind of guy: he prefers a long trail even when a train ticket can get him where he's going in one-tenth the time. His brother Big Red, on the other hand, wouldn't mind climbing down from his horse and onto a train once in a while if it'll give his saddle-sore rear end a rest. So when it's Old red who insists they sign on to guard the Pacific Express, despite a generations-old Amlingmeyer family distrust of the farm-stealin', cattle-killin', money-grubbin' railroads, Big Red is flummoxed. But as usual, he'll follow his ornery brother just about anywhere. So, it is that Big Red and Old Red find themselves trapped on a thousand tons of steam-driven steel, summiting the Sierras en route to San Francisco with a crafty gang of outlaws somewhere around the next bend, a baggage car jam-packed with deadly secrets, and a killer hidden somewhere amongst the colourful passengers. All of the wit, flavour, humour, and suspense that made "Holmes On The Range" one of the most dynamic mystery debuts in recent memory are evident in Steve Hockensmith's wonderful second novel.
Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer and his brother, Ctto (a.k.a. "Big Red"), cowpokes by training, discovered Sherlock Holmes through the stories and are now devotees of his method of detectifying". The two brothers are in San Francisco in 1893 with an eye towards a real detective job. But that's not working so well and they are footloose, a little broke, and not-so-fancy-free. But serendipity is on their side. They run into an old acquaintance in Chinatown, who takes a shot at them. The girl Big Red has been searching for shows up bearing bad news. And a group of hatchet wielding Chinese tong members are out for their blood.Yep, their luck has changed - what was once merely bad is now truly catastrophic.