A Crack in the Lens by Steve Hockensmith

This is the fourth installation in a fairly new mystery series, but it was the first one that I read. And it caught my eye not because of the relationship of the two main characters to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, but because the author chose to place his characters in San Marcos, Texas, my chosen home for the past 20 years.

The two central characters in the book are Gustav Amlingmeyer (aka "Old Red") and his brother Otto (aka "Big Red"). What has gone on before the central plot is that both "Old Red" and "Big Red" are roving cowboys in the late 1890's, moving from place to place. "Big Red" reads Sherlock Holmes stories to his brother, who is illiterate. "Old Red" fancies himself a detective in the fashion of Holmes and has taken up cases along the way and solved several.

Which brings us to the current novel. The Amlingmeyers end up in San Marcos to try to determine the cause of death of a prostitute that "Big Red" knew from 5 years prior. A lot of people aren't happy that he has returned to town, and some of them are determined to see that he moves on posthaste.

Speaking as only a recent resident, I tried my damnedest to place the buildings and events in the context of the current layout of the town (and failed miserably, only one of the streets still bears the same name 100 some odd years later. But I had fun with it and enjoyed meeting a couple of new characters to add to my list of favorite detectives. Fortunately my library has the other three books so far published so I will be able to catch up on them quickly.

I rate this one 8½ stars.

A Tale Out of Luck by Willie Nelson and Mike Blakely

Willie Nelson is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songwriters of our time. But call me a negative Nellie, I don't think Willie Nelson actually wrote the fully fleshed out novel here. Most likely, because it also has a secondary author, Mike Blakely wrote the story out, using a skeleton story line that Wille gave him.

That shouldn't take anything away from the novel in any way. The story is intriguing and kept me page-turning for a day and a half. And except for a nagging little deus ex machina that appears towards the end of the book, it was highly entertaining.

The story begins with the murder of a rustler by an unknown assailant who uses Comanche arrows to kill him. The story shifts to Jay Blue, son of the ex-Texas Ranger, and ranch owner Capt. Hank Tomlinson, who is trying to spark a barmaid at the local saloon, while his friend and adopted brother "Skeeter" Rodriquez is supposed to be covering his duty as night guard at the ranch. Meanwhile, back at the ranch (I've always wanted to write that...), Capt. Hank's newly aquired thouroughbred mare is stolen after "skeeter" sneaks off to catch some sleep.

The story follows several characters, including a state authorized police detective Max Kenyon, investigating the death of the rustler, and an Indian brave known only as "the Wolf". This story has as many twists and turns in it as a mystery novel, and you will be kept guessing right up to the very end as to hat is coming next.

I rate this one 7½ stars. Very good.

The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout

While not my favorite John Wayne movie, The Shootist has always ranked in the top 5. Needless to say I had seen it numerous times on T.V. But only when I recently acquired a DVD of the movie and saw the feature regarding the making of the movie, did I realize that it was based on a novel. Yes it does say that in the credits at the beginning, but I never have been one to pay attention to those past the naming of the actors.

Fortunately for me, I found a copy of the original novel. It is hard to write a review of a novel that has been made into a movie, even harder when that movie is more well known than the original novel. Comparisons between the novel and the more well-known movie, which will have incoporated and adapted the original text to suit its own purposes, is inevitable.

What jumped out at me more than anything else was the character of Gillom Rogers, the character than Ron Howard played in the movie. The text character is much more pugnacious and harder-edged than what appears on the screen in the performance of Howard. I imagine a lot of this had to do with Howard's image, coming from his Opie Taylor and Richie Cunningham background than anything having to do with wanting to tone down the character for the purposes of the movie itself.

Other than that, there's not much entirely different here. Most of the action takes place in exactly the same form as was presented as a movie. And it was entertaining to break from my usual fare to read something more classic in the western genre, something I don't do as much these days.

I give this one 8 stars.

Quincannon's Game by Bill Pronzini

Quincannon's Game by Bill Pronzini


Bill Pronzini is more famous for his "Nameless Detective" series, but he has published a few short stories and at least one novel using the character of John Quincannon, a detective in the late 19th century San Francisco. The four short stories featured here are entertaining, but, in my opinion, not nearly as satisfying as even the least of the Nameless series. The highlight of the book is the first story, which features and encounter with Sherlock Holmes (during the period after his "death" at Reichenbach Falls and his "reappearance" in England.) The Quincannon character has an ego a mile wide and believes Holmes to be something less than his equal. Suffice to say that Holmes turns out to be better at his craft than Quincannon thinks.

The other three stories are along the same lines as the first, with Quincannon and his partner in business, Sabina Carpenter, solving locked room mysteries with a flair, but they seem a little cliched to this reader. Maybe I should stick to my non-fiction (don't count on it though, there are several authors including Mr. Pronzini, that I can't resist when they publish something new.

I rate this one 6 stars, though. Entertaining for the characters, but not the best at the plot.

Winthrop