"The Black Dove" by Steve Hockensmith

“The Black Dove” by Steve Hockensmith is his third book about the adventures of the Amlingmeyer bothers. Like “Holmes on the Range” and On the Wrong Track”, it is as both funny and a good mystery.

It is the summer of 1893 and Gustav and Otto, better known as Old Red and Big Red, are job hunting in San Francisco. The two cowboys turned detective aren’t having a lot of luck finding a job but they have no problem finding trouble.
It starts when they run into Dr. Chan, an acquaintance from their short time working for the Southern Pacific Rail Road (On the Wrong Track). When he is found dead the police say suicide, but Old Red says murder.

Teaming up with Diana Curvus, another (possibly) ex-agent of the Southern Pacific and prevaricator extraordinaire, they set out to find the truth. What follows is a wild romp through China Town and that denizen of vice, the Barbary Coast. Their only clue is the missing “Black Dove”, which everyone is looking for. Their search puts them up against the tongs, a Chinese detective working for the “Six Companies”, and a crooked cop. They pursue and are pursued through back allies, cat houses, opium dens and other healthful places until everything and everyone comes together in a final shocking clash.

I have to say that I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the first two, “Homes on the Range” and “On the Wrong Track”. Although well written and fast paced it is written in the style of the hard boiled detective fiction of the pulp fiction era, which doesn’t quite fit the 1893 background. However, it is still an excellent read and well worth the price of the hardcover edition.

On the Wrong Track by Steve Hockensmith

Steve Hockensmith has done it again. “On The Wrong Track” is an excellent follow up to his first book “Holmes on the Range”. This is another well written story that will keep you both laughing and wondering who done it.
Gustav and Otto, better known as Old Red and Big Red respectively, are back and this time their riding the rails instead of the grub line. They've been hired by the Southern Pacific Rail Road and put on the express to San Francisco where they will receive their training. The problem is that they have to get over the mountains alive first. Not only is the train a target for a gang of outlaws with a grudge against the Southern Pacific but there is a murder committed on board almost as soon as the train gets started.
With a train full of suspects and a bad case of the ‘collywobbles,’ Old Red starts investigating. Not only do they have to deal with a snooty conductor who thinks that the only thing lower then cowboys are company guards but there is a nervous Wells Fargo man with a quick trigger finger in the express car. There is the Chinaman traveling with a drunken Pinkerton Agent, a suffragette who has an almost unladylike interest in her fellow passengers, and an annoying drummer. Then there is the crime scene, a baggage car full of strange things, including two caskets and a snake.
The farther into the mountains they go the stranger and more complicated things get. As the brothers deal with murder and robbery, things go from bad to worse. Using the methods of Old Red's hero, Sherlock Holmes, the two brothers follow the clues to the end of the line.
The relationship between the two Reds is both touching and funny. The bond between them is strong without being sentimental or sappy. The brotherly needling is of the type that anyone with brothers understands.
If you liked “Holmes on the Range” you’ll love “On the Wrong Track.” If you haven’t read either book I highly recommend them both. If you read mysteries or westerns you will find Mr. Hockensmith’s work most satisfying.