The Crack In The Lens, by Steve Hockensmith

• Title: The Crack In The Lens
• Author: Steve Hockensmith
• Purchased from: Book store in Portland, ME while on vacation there last week.
• Started: 8/31/2009
• Finished: 9/2/2009

A few years ago I came across a website discussing a fun take on the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. The set up was a couple of cowboys in the old west who like Holmes try to solve mysteries as well. The book sounded fun so off to the library I went and sure enough they had it, the book was titled Holmes on the Range. I'm a sucker for buddy stories and Holmes on the Range was just the kind of book I liked. Since then I've read all of the series as they're published, most recently today's entry The Crack in the Lens.

While I've enjoyed all the books in the series (there are also 4 or 5 short stories that are entertaining as well) the first book and this newest one are by far my favorites. The middle two (The Black Dove & On the Wrong Track) were fun reads but not quite as good as the first and fourth. The author (Hockensmith) also maintains a website that is updated reasonably often, responds to emails quickly, and generally seems like a nice guy. I always look forward to new Holmes on the Range mysteries, the only fiction I buy new are these books.