The Crack in the Lens by Steve Hockensmith

 

The plot:  October, 1893. Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer, Sherlock Holmes-loving cowboy detective, and his younger brother, Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer, are on another case. Only this time it's personal. Five years ago Gus's sweetheart was murdered, but back then he didn't know how to 'deducify' the truth about what happened to her. Now that he knows Sherlock Holmes' Method for solving crimes, he's hoping to track down  the real killer. Only San Marcos, Texas, is not the same town it once was; and no one there is glad to see the Amlingmeyer brothers. But they're about to stir up some trouble, because Gus isn't going anywhere until he finds out the truth. 

My thoughts:  What a fun read! Otto, who narrates their adventures with amusing sarcasm and homespun humor, and his much more serious, even grumpy, brother, Gus, are the best characters. I loved getting a glimpse into Gus's past in this book. And the way these two get into and out of impossible situations is always entertaining. They're such a great team. And the time period is one of my favorites. Plus, I find the whole premise of these two cowboy sleuths acting like a Western version of Holmes and Watson irresistible. This is the fourth book in this series (though it could easily be read as a standalone), and just as good as all the others. 

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

Other Steve Hockensmith reads:

Holmes on the Range

The White Magic Five and Dime

Holmes on the Range by Steven Hockensmith

 "Damn it, brother," I said. "You're a cowboy, not a detective."

1893, Montana.

Two red-headed cowboys:  Gustav Amlingmeyer (Old Red) and Otto Amlingmeyer (Big Red); both have a penchant for the stories of Sherlock Holmes, though it's Gustav who loves them best. But he can't read, so it's up to Otto to read them out loud to him. 

The Bar VR:  An isolated cattle ranch owned by an English Duke, but run by Uly McPherson, a man with a reputation for being hard-nosed, unethical, and violent.

There's something crooked going on at the Bar VR where Old Red and his brother have hired on to work. And when one murder is followed by a second, Old Red is determined to figure out what's going on. He even makes a bet with the Duke that he can 'deducify' the truth. 

"Some folks get religion. Gustav got Sherlock Holmes."

My thoughts:

I loved the blend of western and mystery in this book. Hockensmith's prose is clever and engaging. And Old Red (who's not really all that old), with his sharp eyes and keen deductive skills, is a great character. I really liked him and his younger brother, Big Red, who narrates the story with charm and humor. I enjoyed all the action, and I always love that Old West setting. This was a very fun read. I'm looking forward to reading Gustav's and Otto's next adventure which I think takes place aboard a train. 

Happy Reading! 

A good read won from Goodreads....

 

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris

Harris has created a fun alternate timeline in this book, where the assassination of FDR and an influenza outbreak back in the 1920s caused the United States to fracture into five distinct countries. It's also where magic meets the Wild West, a very crazy and fun mash-up.

While I definitely appreciated Harris's inventive world building, I absolutely loved her main character! Gunslinging Lizbeth Rose is independent and fierce, and at just nineteen, she's one of the best gunnies in Texoma. She'll risk her life to protect her clients. Even when her clients are grigories, two Russian wizards who need her help to track down a direct descendant of Grigori Rasputin. Lizbeth has her own reasons for not liking wizards, but she needs this job. And before their journey through Texoma to the border towns of Mexico is over, she'll have more than earned her money protecting her clients from ambushes, bandits, magical traps and enemy wizards. 

This is one fun adventure: compelling, gritty and immersive. I didn't want to put it down! I won a copy of this book from a Goodreads Giveaway last year, and the fact that it was such an entertaining read makes me feel even luckier. I can't wait to read the other books in this series. 

Happy Reading!

Another Classic...

One of the twelve categories in Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge this year is "A Classic that's Been on Your TBR List the Longest". And originally, I planned on reading Anne Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest, a book I bought years ago but never read. I even started it, but I just couldn't do it. Even though I liked both A Sicilian Romance and The Mysteries of Udolfo, I just couldn't get into this one. The text was too dense, the prose too wordy and boring. So I decided to switch books and read The Virginian by Owen Wister instead. 

This book is one my Dad owned, and one I've long wanted to read. And I ended up really liking it. Written in 1902, It's set in Wyoming in the late 1800s. The main character is known only as the Virginian (because that's where he's from). He's described as being a tall, lean gentleman with dark hair and a way with horses. He's got a soft Southern drawl and a wicked sense of humor. He's also nomadic, single, and happy with his life. Until he meets the new young schoolteacher from Vermont, Molly Wood. Once he sees her, his whole world changes. She does not feel the same way about him, at least not at first. Molly has a proud and independent spirit, but the Virginian is persistent and hard to resist. 

I thought this novel did an excellent job of capturing the spirit of the Old West, as well as depicting life as a cow-puncher in a mostly unsettled Wyoming. It's also a novel of friendship, honor, courage, courtship, and love. I was charmed by how the Virginian borrowed books from Molly to try and better himself, and how he really liked Shakespeare and the Russian authors, but couldn't relate to the books of Jane Austen. He's a memorable and very likable character. This whole book is quite entertaining and readable....and definitely better than The Romance of the Forest. 

Happy Reading! 

Other classic westerns I've read and enjoyed:

Shane by Jack Schaefer

Sunset Graze by Luke Short

Those Jensen Boys by William W. Johnstone

And any book by Louis L'Amour is always fun! 

Shane by Jack Schaefer

 

3 Quotes from the book:

"He rode into our valley in the summer of '89. ... He was clean-shaven and his face was lean and hard and burned from high forehead to firm, tapering chin. His eyes seemed hooded in the shadow of the hat's brim. He came closer, and I could see that this was because the brows were drawn in a frown of fixed and habitual alertness. Beneath them the eyes were endlessly searching from side to side and forward, missing nothing. ... He rode easily, relaxed in the saddle...yet even in this easiness was a suggestion of tension. It was the easiness of a coiled spring, of a trap set."   

"Only he was not a farmer and never really could be. ... There were times when he would stop and look off at the mountains and then down at himself and any tool he happened to have in his hands as if in wry amusement at what he was doing. You had no impression that he thought himself too good for the work or did not like it. He was just different. He was shaped in some firm forging of past circumstances for other things."

"Those were beautiful fall days, clear and stirring, with the coolness in the air just enough to set one atingling, not yet mounting to the bitter cold that soon would come sweeping down out of the mountains. It did not seem possible that in such a harvest season, giving a lift to the spirit to match the well-being of the body, violence could flare so suddenly and swiftly."

My thoughts:  So, I have a bookish confession to make:  I knew there was a movie called Shane (even though I've never seen it), but I never knew there was a book. Not until I read Sam's review over at Book Chase two months ago. What he said about this book made me want to read it right away. And now I'm not sure I ever want to see the movie because I loved the book so much. It's a more quiet and thoughtful western than most I've read. And there's a poetic quality to Schaefer's writing that I really enjoyed. And Shane? I liked him right from the start. And the young boy who narrates the story is so great. In fact, I liked everything about this one. So, thanks, Sam, for recommending this book! It's a new favorite, and one I think I now want to own.  

Happy Reading!