The Black Dove

In their third novel-length adventure, Sherlock Holmes-worshiping cowpokes Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer temporarily hang up their saddles and spurs and hit the wild (not to mention dangerous) streets of San Francisco. Despite their unfamiliarity with city ways, one thing remains the same: their unmatched talent for getting into trouble. It’s not long before they’ve run afoul of Chinatown crime lords and Barbary Coast cutthroats. Good thing the Amlingmeyers’ new, if duplicitous, friend Diana is along for the ride. But will even her wily charms save them when they stumble into the middle of a tong war? And can she help them track down the mysterious “Black Dove” in time to unmask a murderer…and save the entire city from disaster? “Other books and TV series have featured genre-melding cowboys armed with ratiocination as well as revolvers, but Hockensmith’s take is quite special. There’s his combination of intriguing mystery, breathless action, colorful characters and enough laugh-out-loud moments for the book to fit in the humorous crime category.” —The Los Angeles Times on The Black Dove