The Crack in the Lens

Starred review from May 11, 2009
Set in 1893, a few weeks after the events of 2008's The Black Dove
, Hockensmith's excellent fourth mystery to feature Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer and his older brother, Gustav (aka “Old Red”), takes them to San Marcos, Tex. The laconic Old Red, whose life took an unexpected turn after his brother introduced him to the deductive methods of Sherlock Holmes, reveals that the love of his life, hooker Gertrude Eichelberger, was murdered in San Marcos five years earlier. The pair's efforts to investigate put them at odds with the local pimps as well as the law. The brothers discover that Gertrude was but the first victim of a serial killer, who modeled his crimes after Jack the Ripper. The personal stake Old Red has in catching the murderer adds an emotional dimension to the puzzle, which Edgar-finalist Hockensmith nicely leavens with witty prose and cliffhanging chapter endings. Author tour.

Brothers Otto and Gustav Amlingmeyer are the Holmes and Watson of the American West. On their fourth, case they investigate a series of murders involving prostitutes, one of whom was Gustav's truelove. Bill Dufris's "aw-shucks" reading somewhat blunts the gory reality of the story's Jack-the-Ripper-style killings, but his performance is in line with the setting and characters. Of course, having narrated the other three Holmes on the Range adventures, he's had lots of practice. Both men's and women's voices have an appropriate rough edge, and the action moves right along. It's difficult to take these sagebrush Sherlocks too seriously; one wonders what Conan Doyle would think. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

September 28, 2009
Hockensmith returns with this superb mystery featuring two brothers, Otto “Big Red” and Gustav “Old Red,” who journey off to the Texas hill country in search of answers to a tragedy that befell them and Gertrude Eichelberger, a young prostitute, five years earlier. Of course, there's trouble along the way, and the boys find themselves scrambling at every corner, using Sherlock Holmes's methods to solve Gertrude's murder. As unique and exciting as the story is, William Dufris does not do the material justice and gives a laughable reading that seems miles away from his usually stellar performances. Dufris goes so far over the top that the story loses its subtle humor and becomes a farce. A Minotaur hardcover (Reviews, May 11).