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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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Murder on the Wild West Express!,
By
This review is from: On the Wrong Track (Hardcover)
Steve Hockensmith returns with his second crime adventure featuring his, "Deducifyin' Cowboys," Old Red and Big Red Amlingmeyer and I for one could not be happier. Once again Hockensmith has given us a twisting, adventurous, thoroughly entertaining murder mystery that pays homage to the great adventures of Sherlock Holmes but which is never afraid to have fun with the conventions of those tales.
This time he decides to take the brothers out of their familiar territory of the open range and deposits them in a stand-by of many notable mysteries over the decades, a moving train. It's a setting that adds a new element to the story for the detectives, unfamiliar ground (and in the case of Old Red, the fact that is is MOVING ground adds yet another element, nausea!). Whereas in their previous adventure ("Holmes on the Range") they were in their element, the actual plains of the, "Wild West," here they are thrust into totally new, and not completely welcome surroundings both for them and certain of their fellow passengers, which adds even more depth to the story. Not only do they have to solve a murder but they must also deal with their own predjudices towards the railroad (which is destroying the farmers they themselves once were) as well as the predjudices of others towards them. After all, who wants to listen to a couple of scruffy cowboys playing at being detectives? Not to mention fiendish plots, mysterious travellers, an escaped snake, several attempts on their lives, a well past his glory days living legend AND a desperate gang of train robbers! Once again we're led through it all by the wry, extremely humourous voice of Big Red, dropping in some witty asides, along with his brother, amidst the trail of clues and deductions, all leading to a truly exciting and rousing climax. The brothers relationship is what holds them, and the book, together and it is that added depth that makes the scenes wherein they discuss their reasons for being in a place neither of them feels comfortable resonate far more than you would expect in a book containing this many jokes regarding bodily functions (they ARE cowboys after all!). It is a brilliant read, well paced, unafraid to mix in real emotional depth (though not too much to get in the way of the adventure), with old characters given new depth and new characters leaping off the page. Once again I cannot wait for the Amlingmeyer brothers to return and, "deducify," once again.
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Cowboy Detectives Take to the Rails,
By
This review is from: On the Wrong Track (Hardcover)
Brothers Old Red and Big Red have had no luck getting jobs at ranches. With their funds running low, they take advantage of the recommendation from dime novel legend Burl Lockhart and join the Pacific Express as detectives. For Old Red, this represents the pursuit of a dream and a chance to become like his hero, Sherlock Holmes. For Big Red, this represents something of a puzzle since their family has hated the railroad for years.
The two men are hardly on board the train before Old Red develops a horrid case of motion sickness. But the real challenge begins when they see the head of the baggage boy roll out from under the train. Clearly, this is no accident. Things only get more confusing when they experience the strangest holdup of all time. What is really happening on board this train? I enjoyed the first in the series, so I was looking forward to spending more time with these two brothers. And they didn't disappoint. Even though they are on a train, we are only introduced to a handful of passengers, making the suspect pool limited. The ones we do get to know are interesting characters, so interesting in fact, that I had a hard time figuring out what role everyone was playing in the drama unfolding. And the climax was one wild ride. I was glad I was able to read it in one sitting. My only complaint with the novel is the language. Unfortunately, there's quite a bit of four letter words added to the dialogue. Whether it is "realistic" for the 1890's or not I don't care. It still bothered me. If you can put that aside, this is a fun mystery that will keep you guessing as it transports you back to another time.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews) 11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Purt' near perfect,
By Jonathan A. Turner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: On the Wrong Track (Hardcover)
Pardner, you need to mosey on down to the tradin' post and rustle yerself up a heap o' Steve Hockensmith.
I read _On the Wrong Track_ first, then *immediately* ran out and bought _Holmes on the Range_. The first one has more deductifyin', the second has more action. It'd be a little better to read them in order, but whatever--the important thing is to read them. These books are * Laugh-out-loud funny * Imaginative * Colorful * Fast-paced * With a great cast of characters * And interesting settings And they're pretty darn good mysteries, to boot! You could argue that both books are a wee bit more complicated than they really need to be. As a result, the villains have to do some speechifyin' in the denouements to explain themselves--a hoary tradition of the mystery, and therefore entirely forgivable. That's just about the only flaw I could identify in either volume. It's rare to find a truly original voice in any kind of fiction, and particularly so in such a stylized genre as the mystery. Hockensmith qualifies in spades. I'll be grabbing the next book in the series as soon as it appears. 4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Otto, the Game's Afoot!,
By Middle-aged Professor - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: On the Wrong Track (Hardcover)
This is the second book in the series. I started with the first, Holmes on the Range (Holmes on the Range Mysteries)and recommend that you do too. While it works fine to start with this one, if you take them in order you will get the "origin" story straight, and there are a few allusions in the second book that will make more sense. Since after you read one you will surely want to read the other, you might as well take them in order.
I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan, if not a fanatic, and immediately fell in love with the premise of this series---a cowboy in the Old West reads about Sherlock Holmes and aspires to be like him. The Old West provides a fresh and fertile landscape as the setting for a Holmes style mystery. And the combination of these two great myths and genres holds obvious promise. An inspired choice. The author executes this concept with worthy aplomb and by this second book the characters are our endearing old friends. After all, the joy of being a Holmes fan is only partly in the patented Holmes deductions, and only partly (and even less) in the mysteries themselves. The great joy comes in the characters, whose foibles become as familiar and comfortable to the reader as Holmes' slippers and pipe became to the Great Detective. And just so with Holmes' many successful descendants such as Hercule Poirot and Nero Wolfe. The heroes in this series hew closer to the Holmes model than Poirot and Wolfe, but are admirably colorful and likeable in their own right. "Big Red," who assumes Watson's narrator role, is more of an independant character than Watson, and he spins out the yarn with steady doses of both suspense and humor. You'll keeping turning the pages eagerly with a broad grin on your face. If anything, this second book slightly surpasses the first---introducing some more interesting secondary characters. My 12-year old son and I eagerly await number three. 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chance encounters and misunderstandings...,
By Gayle Surrette "omnivorous reader" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: ON THE WRONG TRACK (Holmes on the Range Mystery) (Paperback)
Starting shortly after the incident in Holmes on the Range, in On the Wrong Track we find the Amlingmeyer brothers trying to find work where Gustav can use his investigating skills to fight crime. When we join the story, they've used most of the cash savings and been laughed at in most of the places they've asked about employment. However, a chance meeting with a down and out drunk who turns out to be Burl Lockhart, famous in many a penny dreadful, sets them off to become railroad detectives for Southern Pacific. Will this be the chance they need to see Gustav's dream come true or just another chance to fail?
There's some problems right at the beginning. You see Amlingmeyer's don't use trains because their cattlemen and the railroads are ruining the West, or at least that's why Otto always thought they didn't take trains. Gustav has a secret. He's ashamed to admit but any reader will figure it out by chapter two -- he gets train sick. Now the whole train thing and the fact that they're low on funds has Otto rethinking his relationship with Gustav. Gustav wants to be a detective and we saw in the first book that he really has a flair for it. He wants Otto to be his Watson and write up his stories. Otto has written the first adventure up but he refuses to send it off -- mainly because if you don't send it, it can't be rejected. There's enough red herrings and misdirection to get a train on a track lost. But it's not confusing to the reader. Hockensmith sets us a tidy mystery with train robbers, drunk Pinkerton officials, officious train personnel, and some very strange and strangely acting passengers. And through it all we have the brothers who have to come to terms with the new changes in their relationship. Otto is the youngest but he's the one who can read. Gustav is rich in common sense and abilities but he's ridden the range for years and took on being father and brother to Otto when the family died in a flash flood years ago. Now they're equals and that is changing some of the dynamics in their relationship. And this is all coming on top of a mystery that looks like it could get them killed six ways from Sunday if they aren't careful. This is a much richer book than Holmes on the Range, the characters were well drawn and believable in the first book but now they just crackle with energy, causing you, the reader, to worry about them and what they will do next. I found myself getting angry with the train personnel and passengers when they diss'd my guys. I like Otto and Gustav -- they're good people and I hope to read many more stories about their adventures. I just hope the next one lets me catch my breath between mishaps and near misses. |
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