The Black Dove by Steve Hockensmith

Review by Thomas F. (hardtack)

This is book three in a send-off of the great ‘consulting detective.’ However, in this series Holmes and Watson are portrayed by two brothers: Gustav ‘Old Red’ and Otto ‘Big Red’ Amlingmeyer. It is the latter part of the 19^th century and Gustav and Otto were enjoying themselves as real American cowboys, when Otto, who is literate, started reading the Sherlock Holmes stories in Harper’s magazine to his brother Gustav, who isn’t literate. It doesn’t help that Gustav, the more serious of the brothers, believes that Holmes is a real person.

Gustav catches the detecting bug and tries to convince Otto to give up just being a cowboy and start investigating crimes in the first novel—Holmes on the Range. This gets them into one royal mess after another, as Gustav just doesn’t know when to quit when the going gets really tough and dangerous. Fortunately, being an expert on reading trail sign helps Gustav unravel crime clues.

The Black Dove has our two retired cowboys trying to make their few dollars last in San Francisco after losing their jobs as railroad detectives in the  second novel—On the Wrong Track. While Gustav mopes, Otto keeps hoping he will once again meet the lovely, female railroad detective he fell for.  As the saying goes… be careful what you wish for.

While taking a short cut through Chinatown, the brothers see an old friend, a Chinese herbal doctor, they met on a train in the second novel. Imagine their surprise when the first thing the Chinese doctor tries to do is kill Otto. However, it was all a mistake, but this is just the beginning of their third adventure, a trail of bodies and numerous narrow escapes for our heroes.

Solving the mystery in this novel requires the brothers to go places they never imagined in a foreign culture—Chinatown— that bewilders them with its customs. Opium dens, herbal medicine shops, slavery, Tongs, hatchetmen and white racists are among the stumbling blocks the brothers and their female companion must overcome before Gustav finally reasons out the motive for the several crimes they uncover.

As with Watson, Otto is the foil for his brother Gustav. Otto does the narration for their adventures and it helps that he has a well developed sense of humor that his brother lacks. Otto does a marvelous job keeping the story light-hearted with his numerous asides, even in the face of sometimes certain death.

Even if you are not a fan of the numerous non-Arthur Conan Doyle tales of Holmes, by various authors, you should still read this fun series featuring Big Red and Old Red. There are five novels in the series, followed by a collection of short stories explaining how the cowboy brothers got stampeded into the detecting business in the first place.

Holmes on the Range Series

1. Holmes on the Range

2. On the Wrong Track

3. The Black Dove

4. The Crack in the Lens

5. World’s Greatest Slueth

The Longest Way Home by Andrew McMarthy

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

When my friend Deb asked me to go to a book discussion with author Andrew McCarthy about his travel book, I thought ‘sure, I love to travel and I love books’. Once I did a little more research I realized it was the Andrew McCarthy; star of the 1980s iconic movies Pretty in Pink, Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie’s.  After learning that bit of information I was pumped for the book discussion and couldn’t wait to get the book in my hot little hands.

This book didn’t come out of the blue.  Andrew had already proven himself as a talented writer.  He had written several articles for various publications including National Geographic Traveler and The Atlantic.  In 2010 he was named Travel Journalist of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers.  So he’s not just some actor who writes a little on the side; he’s a real deal writer.

I take travel seriously.  It may be annoying to some people but I can’t help it.  I think traveling is an opportunity to step out of my small life and see how other people experience daily living.  Traveling gives me a chance to see life from a different perspective and I am always open to that experience. I still have fun and relax but I’m always looking for a new way to see things… walking down a street not in the tourist area, eating where the locals eat, going to a local grocery store.  Quite simply, I sometimes like to get off the beaten tourist path.  In Andrew’s book he writes about his travels during the time leading up to his marriage.  He recognized his pattern of avoidance when he would plan trips instead of focusing on wedding plans.  Andrew developed a desire to learn more about himself and his issues with commitment and he decided to do that through travel.

I admit that while reading the book I thought he was being rather childish. Deb and I talked prior to the discussion and I was happy to find out I wasn’t alone in how I felt about the book.  I thought perhaps I was being too hard on him or just not connecting with him.  I am so glad I was able to attend his discussion because I felt I understood his motives and thought process more after he told supporting stories.  I was able to connect with him in a different way and it changed how I felt about the book.

There were a couple of points from his book and discussion I will never forget.  First, he encouraged everyone in the audience to ‘be a citizen of the world’, to be willing to see how other people live.  I couldn’t agree more! Seeing how other people live confirms for me time and time again we are all more alike than we are different.  Second, he believes ‘travel obliterates fear’.  I swear I wanted to jump up and say ‘Amen!’ when he said that.  I believe it is so, so true. I have traveled to places where others thought I shouldn’t go.  For example, I have traveled where I was one of a few females not wearing religious coverings.  Was I looked at a little sideways by some people? Yes.  Was I scared? No.  Was I naïve not to be scared?  Some people might think so.  Or was I not scared because there was no threat to me? I choose to think that’s true. Naïve or not, it’s how I choose to embrace the world.

We all have our moments when we see life with clarity.  We have the moments when we realize how blessed we are in our lives.  We have the moments when we decide our troubles really are inconsequential when compared to the struggles of another. We have the moments when we are reminded what a beautiful place our world can be.  I experience these moments and more when I travel.  And now I know I’m not the only traveler who feels that way.  Andrew McCarthy feels that way, too.

Mirah and Andrew McCarthy

Try Anything Once by Erle Stanley Gardner writing as A.A. Fair

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

Besides writing 80-some Perry Mason novels under his own name, Erle Stanley Gardner wrote under his pen name A. A. Fair books starring the PI team of Bertha Cool and Donald Lam. The Cool & Lam plots are as convoluted as the Mason stories and the cops come off just as unmindful of proper procedure and derisive about the idea of civil rights. However, the tone is lighter, sexier, and funnier.

Donald Lam takes the helm as first-person narrator. Though he tells the reader he takes time out to think, he never tells the content of his thoughts. His caginess stands in contrast Archie Goodwin’s usual admission that he has no idea of what Nero Wolfe, a genius, is thinking.

In this 1962 mystery, an agitated husband hires Cool & Lam to impersonate him so his wife will not find out he was at a swanky motel with a cocktail waitress. At the time he was sneaking and cheating, a high-profile murder was committed at the same motel and the homicide squad is looking for potential witnesses.

Lam, as his wont, senses a rat and gets into trouble with rich influential people and the cops. Bertha provides comic diversion and muscle, in a neat upending of the stereotypical sensitive female and brawny male. Gardner returns to his ongoing theme of the problems of young single city women, who have their, uh, physical needs, and changing social standards.

Other Cool & Lam novels have more action. This has recapitulations of action that are rather unusual for Gardner, who usually moved plots along briskly. Still, I recommend it to both novices and fans of the characters  – there are wonderful scenes with Lam and Elsie Brand.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

Review by Brenna B. (demiducky25)

I came across this book in an interesting way.  My mom wanted to read this book and was having trouble acquiring it through her local library, so I offered to request the book and have it sent to my library.  By the time I picked it up from my library and saw her again to give her the book, she had already gotten it herself and couldn’t stop talking about it.  Rather than return this book unread, I decided I should give it a shot since the description looked interesting, and boy am I glad I did!

The Secret Keeper follows Laurel’s quest learn about her dying mother Dorothy’s life.  Specifically, Laurel wants to know about a crime she witnessed Dorothy commit back in the 1960s when Laurel was sixteen years old.  The only other witness was Laurel’s toddler brother, Gerry.  Laurel moved away from home, pushed this event into the far corners of her mind, and became a world-renowned actress.  Fifty years later, one of Laurel’s sister’s finds a photograph of her mother and another woman and an inscription in a book from World War II that no one understands.   This sends Laurel on a journey to learn about her mother, the book, and the other woman in the picture in hopes of making sense of the crime she witnessed so many years earlier.  Laurel’s research opens the door to events that happened in Dorothy’s childhood all the way through World War II and beyond and what she discovers about her mother makes her question if her own happy childhood was a lie.

I really can’t describe this book without given away its secrets, so I’m sorry if the description above is a bit clunky.  Kate Morton does a fantastic job of weaving together so many seemingly unconnected threads.  Each word was chosen carefully and nothing is said that doesn’t play a role in unraveling the mystery later.  There are a lot of time-jumps in this book: one chapter takes place in modern day, then the next in the 1960s, then the next in modern day, then another in World War II and the perspective shifts between characters as well.  I didn’t find this a problem since Morton clearly lets you know at the start of each chapter where in time you are, but I know some people aren’t fans of this type of story-telling so I figured I should mention it.  I thought that the constant shifting added to the story since you wanted to keep reading to find out what happened.  I had a hard time putting this book down, and was disappointed when it was over (not because of the ending because the ending was amazing but because it was done- I enjoyed the ride so much I didn’t want it to end)!  If you want a book with twists and turns, one that will keep you guessing until the very end, then this is a book for you.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.  It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a while, and as soon as I’m done writing this review I plan to start reading Morton’s earlier book The Forgotten Garden, which my mom thought was an even better book than The Secret Keeper.  Since I think so highly of this book, I can’t wait to see what I’m in for with The Forgotten Garden.

My rating- 5 out of 5 stars

The ruins of Croyland aka Crowland Abbey

A Trail of Blood by Jeremy Potter

Review by Jerelyn H. (I-F-Letty)

Mr. Potter was the Chairman for the Richard III Society from 1971 until 1989, so you have a well, (if slightly biased) researched story with a decidedly Richardian slant.  I tend to stay away from Princes in the Tower stories, I am usually left a bit cold by either a heavy handed. “Big bad Richard” or the equally obnoxious who done it, with the usual suspects.  But refreshingly this is told with a distance of a generation between events and the time period our protagonists live in.

The dissolution of the monasteries has begun, the smaller religious houses having already been sacrificed in hopes that the larger more powerful abbeys and monasteries will be left in peace.  The great fenland Abbey of Croyland aka Crowland is the setting.  A young monk is asked to investigate the possibility that Richard Duke of York could be alive, and if he is, could he be persuaded to come back to challenge Henry VIII.  To save the religious houses which face extinction, to take his rightful place as king, and to be the savior of the true faith in England.

I have to say I loved this story, loved it!  It was, as I said before, it is not your run of the mill lost princes story.  It deals with the changing face of England. After all, the War of the Roses is within living memory, and by the time Richard III was killed at Bosworth I don’t believe many people care who ruled as long as the hostilities ended. So the reign of Henry VII was one of relative peace and rebuilding.  No matter what your view point of Henry VII, he was the one left standing and had the pedigree to rule.   The church was so corrupt that anyone who had the wit to see knew that. It was also the largest land owner in the country and had wealth just waiting to be pillaged. Henry VIII with Thomas Cromwell’s help did just that.

But the real story is Thomas’ journey reexamining the time after Richard III’s death and those pretenders that came forward to challenge Henry VII’s reign from Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel.  The main question becomes, if Richard Duke of York had survived why had he not come forward?  And, could they stop the dissolution of the monasteries or was it too late?  If this is a time period which interests you I think that you will like the tale Mr. Potter spins, whether you are Lancastrian or Richardian it gives food for thought.

4 stars.

Cat Daddy: What the World’s Most Incorrigible Cat Taught Me About Life Love and Coming Clean

by Jackson Galaxy

Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)

I am a cat guardian for my kitty kid Tootie.  She’s a 13-year old tortoiseshell longhair who is a bundle of kitty love (and fur) and she makes me smile. Born with only one severely damaged eye, she is essentially blind but she has managed to adjust to her limitations and thrive.  I recently started watching Animal Planet’s ‘My Cat from Hell’ with cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy. I thought watching the show could teach me more about cats in general. While watching I’m thinking, ‘Thank God I got so lucky with my kitties’ because I’ve never experienced the extreme situations featured on the show.

Through the show I have learned a lot about cat language and started to better understand some of Tootie’s behaviors and how she communicates.  Like why she likes to pee and poop in the yard just beyond our back door, why she loves to carry around her favorite fishing pole toy and what she is saying when she ‘talks’ to us.  I’ll say this: the stuff Jackson says really makes sense.  I love his approach to living with animals.  When I found out he had an autobiography, I knew I had to read it.

It is a fair assessment, I think, to say Jackson’s life has been quite the roller coaster ride of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.  His life was chaotic and he was constantly searching for a place to fit.  He takes the reader on his journey, starting at a shelter where he, sadly, had to euthanize animals to his business today as a cat behaviorist.  Throughout his story he provides tips on how to be a better cat guardian and information on various topics like overcrowded shelters, spaying and neutering, feral populations, cat nutrition and the negative effects of declawing.

I think any dedicated cat guardian could gain insight from this book.  The guardians who want to have a deeper bond with their cats and want to learn more about their behaviors can find something to use here. I’ve been a cat guardian for 14 years and I have learned some tricks along the way (like how to better travel with cats) but reading Jackson’s book gave me better understanding into why these tricks work and ways to improve my methods.

On a deeper level, I was incredibly moved by Jackson’s telling of his final good-bye to Benny, the incorrigible cat from the title of the book. I had tears pouring down my face because I experienced some of the same emotions when I had to say good-bye to Sunny, my grey and white shorthair and first kitty kid.  And I know it’s ok that sometimes I still get doubled over by the pain and grief of his passing.  I’ll have a regular day and then I’ll see Sunny’s picture and a wave of sadness just overtakes me.  Being emotionally invested is just one aspect of being a cat guardian.  We want to be the best we can be for these animals and are willing to do what it takes to be the ones to save them because, on another level, these animals save us right back.  Our cats have the ability to make a bad day better, give us love and acceptance when we aren’t feeling it from the humans in our lives and melt our hearts with a contented purr.

Thank you, Jackson Galaxy, for imparting some wisdom on how to speak and understand the cat language and how to love our cats in the ways they can understand.

Green for Danger by Christianna Brand

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

Christianna Brand presses a lot of buttons. The setting of this 1944 mystery is an English military hospital, so right away we gulp at the prospect of murder in the OR. We feel the stress of wartime with the characters frazzled with work and quietly miserable about deprivations of decent food and heat. As if medical murder and home front fatigue were not enough, we have the Blitz: sirens screaming, Nazi bombers droning and roaring overhead, crammed shelters, bombs falling and wreaking havoc on lives and property. This novel is worth reading for the immediate atmosphere alone.

But it’s also a refined puzzle of a whodunit. A mail carrier dies on the operating table. The death is ruled an accident but the head nurse, in a drunken unguarded tirade, claims that it was murder and that she has hidden the evidence. She is found stabbed to death. Suspects can be narrowed down to six, three doctors and three nursing staff. Romantic feelings and the accompanying jealousy are a little tedious at the beginning but they turn out to be crucial to the unfolding of story.

Inspective Cockrill, who will call to mind Fat Andy Dalziel in Reginald Hill’s novels, gets on the case only to find that he knows but can’t prove whodunit. How to force a confession? By putting them all under extreme pressure. The half-dozen suspects are all unique personalities. Brand makes us see that the flawed characters like and respect each other enough to tolerate faults – and that makes the reveal all the more painful for them and the reader.

And it’s also well-written. Brand describes people and places vividly. The characterization and dialogue are convincing as are the solution and motivation. The action scenes are exciting. It’s understandable that a film version was made in 1946, starring Alastair Sim as Cockrill and Trevor Howard. Directed by Sidney Gilliat, it is regarded by mystery fans and film historians as one of the greatest screen treatments of a whodunnit.

“You have to reach for the greatest of the Great Names (Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen) to find Christianna Brand’s rivals in the subtleties of the trade” said Anthony Boucher, a well-regarded critic for the New York Times.