Not as good as the novels. They seem formulaic and repetitive, possibly because I really don't warm to the letter-writing staging. ( )

Sometimes I just want to have fun while I'm reading, and when that mood swept over me this month, I found myself turning to Steve Hockensmith's collection of seven short stories about the Amlingmeyer brothers-- the cowboy detectives of the Old West. It did not disappoint.

When reading the author's collection of Christmas short stories, I learned to read everything included so I wouldn't miss a single laugh, and the same thing holds true for Dear Mr. Holmes. Since most of these stories were originally published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, there are several copyright notices. Read 'em. All of 'em. And the introduction contains not only a few chuckles, but the tale of just how Old Red And Big Red Amlingmeyer came into existence, which is very interesting indeed.

The seven stories contained in this collection are "Dear Mr. Holmes," "Gustav Amlingmeyer, Holmes of the Range," "Wolves in Winter," "Dear Mr. Watson," "The Water Indian," "The Devil's Acre," and "Greetings from Purgatory!" Every one is a gem.

Each one is written in the form of a letter to various magazines of the day, or to someone like Dr. Watson himself, and Big Red invariably mentions a manuscript or story that he'd mailed earlier. He usually takes a while to shoot the breeze with the letter's recipient before he actually begins telling his tale, and as I read I couldn't help but think that I wouldn't mind receiving a few of these letters from that tall, red-headed cowpoke. The stories move from being hilarious to downright creepy, and the Old West feels so real that I swear I could hear the jingle of spurs as I turned the pages.

If you've been intrigued by Steve Hockensmith's series of mysteries featuring two cowboy sleuths in the American West of the 1890s, but you haven't really wanted to invest the time it would take to read one of the books, this collection of short stories is an excellent place to start. Once you've sampled how Old Red and Big Red Amlingmeyer solve a case, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you headed straight out to the corral to rope a few of those books. It's real easy to take a shine to these two brothers. ( )

Dear Mr. Holmes: Seven Holmes on the Range Mysteries - Steve Hockensmith (kindle edition)

I've never gone out of my way to read a compilation of short stories and I'm sure I miss out on a lot of great material, but I want more than just a quick glimpse at a character. I want to follow a character's life, see them get in and out of different situations, and watch their interactions with a variety of people and places. I enjoy stepping into their world and following them around. That's probably the reason I get sucked into so many series, what's going to happen next? And starting a series from the beginning is a must in my book.

So I have the first novel of Steve Hockensmith's, Holmes on the Range Mysteries, appropriately named, Holmes on the Range, sitting in the middle of my to-be-read pile, when I read a post where the author was offering a free e-pub of his short stories pertaining to the series. I emailed and asked if the short stories were a lead-in to the novels, otherwise I wouldn't mind waiting until after I'd started the series to pick up this book as it's just under the price of a cup of coffee. Steve was gracious enough to email me back with assurances these were in fact a lead-in to the series, and he hoped I would dig them. What a treasure!

The first short story was originally printed in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and and is our first introduction to the brothers Gustav and Otto Amlingmeyer, affectionately known as Old Red and Big Red.

The two protagonists are currently signed on as hired hands moving a herd of cattle west, and feeling as if their lives are about as interesting as watching grass grow. It all changes when the boys discover a copy of The Red-Headed League featuring the World Famous Detective Sherlock Holmes. Old Red gets to pit his new deducifying skills against cattle rustlers, while Big Red follows in the footsteps of Dr. Watson, becoming the chronicler for their adventures.

Each of the following stories easily stands alone, although the last few hint strongly at events that take place in the novels. One serious warning. If you're anything like me, do not be reading these stories next to a keyboard while drinking soda. I couldn't help but laugh aloud at Big Red's first-person take on things, and the author does a wonderful job of keeping his characters so down to earth likeable.

Time travel is possible as two of my favorite genres mix into a blend of the romanticized Old West meets mystery solving goodness. Don't be looking for car chases, bikini-clad supermodels, foreign-speaking terrorists or even high-speed internet in these small snippets of simpler times, rather be prepared to taste some dust, get a little sweaty and suffer through a few saddle sores while deducifying along with the Amlingmeyer brothers. In the meantime, I've placed Holmes on the Range on the top of my tbr pile. ( )