The Maniac Collector's Inbox The Crack In The Lens: A Review
The Crack in the Lens The Crack in the Lens is the fourth "Holmes on the Range" yarn about two cowboys that happen to be brothers. The exploits of Otto "Big Red" and Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer are being chronicled by Otto. This makes the most sense because he is the only one of the two that can read. Gustav enjoys hearing his brother read to him aloud the Sherlock Holmes stories as they first appeared in Harper's Weekly. "Old Red" has a knack for 'deducifyin'' and using Holmes' techniques. The latest aventure has the duo returning to the central Texas town of San Marcus. Gustav is dead-set on solving the mysterious murder of a whore he had known in San Marcus five years earlier. It seems that female-phobic "Old Red" was once in love and had planned on settling down. This is all revealed to "Big Red" in the usual pace of a snail that "Old Red" is known for when one is speaking of his conversing style. Slowly we learn of his involvement with Gertie the whore; that she was murdered because she doing extra whoring to save money. The extra money was for the two of them to start a life together. "Old Red" went on a drunken binge when he got news of Gertie's murder. There were never any arrests in the case. As soon as a heroes hit the outskirts of San Marcus they nearly lynched and it only get worse. Once they get to town, no one will talk to them and the marshal had a run-in with "Old Red" five years before and he suspect "Old Red" is Gertie's murderer and vice-versa. Before very long nearly everyone is a suspect and it takes Gustav "Old Red" Amlingmeyer a bunch of deducifyin' before all of the dust settles and we find out who is the real killer. There are more twists and turns than a rattlesnake that's been run over by a Well Fargo Stagecoach. I have enjoyed each book in this series and this certainly does not disappoint. Stay tuned; maybe Gustav will learn to read in the next one. Three Deerstalkers. Happy Collecting!!
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Past 2009 Columns January 4, 2009 January 11, 2009 January 18, 2009 January 25, 2009 February 2, 2009 February 8, 2009 February 22, 2009 March 1 , 2009 March 8, 2009 March 15, 2009 March 22, 2009 March 29, 2009 April 5 , 2009 April 12 , 2009 April 19, 2009 April 26, 2009 May 3, 2009 May 10, 2009 May 24, 2009 May 31, 2009 June 7, 2009 June 14, 2009 June 21, 2009 June 28, 2009 July 5, 2009 July 12, 2009 July 19, 2009 July 26, 2009 August 2, 2009 |
