[Holmes On the Range 03] • Dear Mr. Holmes

Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer have starred in five novels, rustling up award nominations and fans aplenty as they cracked mysteries using the methods of their hero, Sherlock Holmes. How did these Old West drifters first discover Holmes, though? And how did their early, awkward stabs at "deducifying" turn out? These seven short stories provide the answers. In "Dear Mr. Holmes," Old Red first gets the itch to turn detective -- and just in time, too, because a killer's stalking him and his brother along a Kansas cattle trail. In "Gustav Amlingmeyer, Holmes of the Range," Old Red's attempt to settle down and open his own "cafay" goes haywire when one of the customers gets a side order of arsenic with his steak and potatoes. And the adventure continues in five more stories (most originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine). If you're a fan, you won't want to miss these rollicking peeks into the Amlingmeyers' past. And if you're not a fan, there's no better place to start!