Richard M. (algernon99) -
Helpful Score: 8
Now this is a great read.
Hockensmith is funny, clever, and has a great sense of the realities of the Old West. Here we have two brothers, known as Big Red and Old Red for their fiery hair color. Old Red, the brainy one, is a fanatic fan of Sherlock Holmes--who he doesn't know is fictional--but can't read. Big Red, the younger brother, has been to school and can read, so he reads any Sherlock stories they can get their hands on to Old Red (and the rest of the bunkhouse crew) over and over again.
When mysterious things start happening out on the range and in the castle-like but rundown old ranch house, Old Red decides it's time to do some sure-enough Sherlocking of his own--with hilarious results.
Yes, it's funny, but it's also a satisfying mystery, which would have been a good story if told straight--that is, with a non-funny narrator. Luckily for us, Big Red is a hoot.
You don't have to like Sherlock Holmes to read this. You don't have to like cowboy stories to read this. You'll like it as long as you have a funny bone and can tolerate good mystery stories.
Read it!
Hockensmith is funny, clever, and has a great sense of the realities of the Old West. Here we have two brothers, known as Big Red and Old Red for their fiery hair color. Old Red, the brainy one, is a fanatic fan of Sherlock Holmes--who he doesn't know is fictional--but can't read. Big Red, the younger brother, has been to school and can read, so he reads any Sherlock stories they can get their hands on to Old Red (and the rest of the bunkhouse crew) over and over again.
When mysterious things start happening out on the range and in the castle-like but rundown old ranch house, Old Red decides it's time to do some sure-enough Sherlocking of his own--with hilarious results.
Yes, it's funny, but it's also a satisfying mystery, which would have been a good story if told straight--that is, with a non-funny narrator. Luckily for us, Big Red is a hoot.
You don't have to like Sherlock Holmes to read this. You don't have to like cowboy stories to read this. You'll like it as long as you have a funny bone and can tolerate good mystery stories.
Read it!
Light hearted western mystery with a realistic, albeit humorous, flavor. Set in eastern Montana, the two brothers find themselves deducifying the happenings on a secretive cattle ranch where y'er s'posed ta be payin' attention to y'er own business lest you end up on the wrong end of a stampede.
Matt N. (whodeynoble) reviewed Holmes on the Range (Holmes on the Range, Bk 1) on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Fun mystery novel set on a ranch in the Old West. Old Red is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic/disciple. Big Red is his little brother, and the narrator. Both are ranch hands investigating a murder. Fun read.
Helpful Score: 3
Enjoyable romp through the wild west with two heroes who solve a mystery due to the fascination with Sherlock Holmes' detectiving methods by one of the gentlemen. Book does have strong language which might be offensive to some.
LeeAnne (Beanbean) reviewed Holmes on the Range (Holmes on the Range, Bk 1) on + 56 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
I LOVED this book! It is original and witty and action packed. Sherlock Holmes never met Gustav and Otto Amlingmeyer but to be sure, he would have appreciated them. Mixing an old-time American western with a very British parlor whodunit could have gone horribly wrong but Hockensmith pulls it off with gusto. Great mystery, great humor and marvelous characters make this book a winner. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series soon.
