History Literature / HolmesOnTheRange

* DirtyCop; Quite a few lawmen are corrupt or abuse their authority, but Inspector Mahoney in ''The Black Dove'' stands out.

# ''Partners in Crime'': A second short story collection of five of the brothers’ adventures set prior to the eighth book.

* BaitAndSwitch: The eponymous short story in ''Partners in Crime'' draws attention to how the oily Mr. Dishanne owns a real estate company that buys up a lot of property whose owners leave town or die and also owns an insurance company that is getting more business due to the bad luck of the townspeople. Actually, Dishane apparently runs both companies honestly and his real criminal secret is owning a speakeasy.

* PoliceAreUseless: Often averted, although the brothers are the ones to do the real mystery-solving, the actual authorities are generally competent at their jobs (although there are exceptions).

** Played completely straight with Marshal Nickles, from one of the short stories in ''Dear Mr. Holmes.'' Nickles is a bullying, bigoted man who is quick to seize the obvious solution and reluctant to admit that he's wrong

1. ''Holmes On the Range'': The brothers are hired by a ranch, owned by absent English aristocrats, and observe lots of mysterious behavior from the regular employees. Then the ranch manager dies in a mysterious stampede, the owners of the ranch arrive for an inspection, and the brothers find themselves investigating their first big case.

2. ''On the Wrong Track'': Working as railroad detectives, the Amlingmeyers' encounter train robbers, a famed PinkertonDetective, a woman who is not what she seems, a Chinese archaeologist trying to bring home some priceless artifacts, and more.

3. ''The Black Dove'': A friend's murder in Chinatown has the brothers and their new associate Diana looking into DirtyCops', [[TriadsAndTongs Tongs]], and a mysterious missing prostitute.

4. ''The Crack in the Lens'': The brothers journey to look into the years old death of Old Red's fiancee, encountering a resentful lawman, sinister pimps, and strong indications of a local SerialKiller.

5. ''World's Greatest Sleuth'': The brothers find themselves competing with lots of other detectives, including their old friend Diana, to win a $10,000 prize, and some much needed publicity. Instead, they get involved in a deeper mystery when the contest organizer turns up dead.

6. ''The Double-A Western Detective Agency'': Now working as part of a larger agency, the brothers journey to take a job that lands them in the middle of a race-fueled range war.

7. ''Dear Mr. Holmes'': A short story collection, with stories set at various points in the brothers lives.

* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse: Exaggerated. ''Every'' detective story published in magazines, from ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'', to ''Literature/NickCarter'' is presented as having been sold as factual memoirs (although many such as Carter and the fictional "Billy Steele, Boy Detective" are fabrications by the authors), with the Alingmeyer brothers publishing their own.

* TheAtoner: In ''The Crack in the Lens'' Bob and Lottie are helping them partially out of friendship, and partially because [[spoiler: They took the money that Old Red and Adeline were going to use to start a new life together after she died and used it to buy themselves a fresh start]].

* ComicallyCrossEyed: Averted with the cross-eyed Swivel-Eye Smith in the first book, who is the least comical of their fellow cowboys.
* DirtyCop; Quite a few, but Inspector Mahoney in ''The Black Dove'' stands out.

* FarmersDaughter: Fiona and Eileen from the short story ''The Water Indian'' showing the brothers quite a bit of attention while their stopped at the farmhouse.

* HardBoiledDetective: King Brady is considered one, although he strikes the brothers as being too much of a dandy, until [[spoiler: until they meet the real King Brady]]. ''Literature/NickCarter'' is also mentioned, disdainfully, a few times.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: All of the ones seen or mentioned in, ''The Crack In the Lens'' and ''The Black Dove'' are god-natured and trustworthy, except for [[spoiler: Big Bess]], although it's made clear that UnproblematicProstitution is ''not'' a phrase they would use to describe their lives.

** In the first short story, Old Red observes that a suspicious drifter taken in by the cattle drive kept demanding everyone stay away from his saddle bags, which naturally made everyone more curious about them. Said saddle bags turn out to contain [[spoiler: Proof that the man is a wanted fugitive]]. This is inverted when Old Red deduces that [[spoiler:he was deliberately baiting them into looking into his saddlebags as part of a BatmanGambit to trick the cattle drive into taking him to the nearest town to turn him in for the reward, when a party of bushwhackers planning to kill them and steal the herd were waiting outside of said town]].
** In ''World's Greatest Sleuth,'' [[spoiler:Boothby Greene and Blackheath-Murray discard their European shoes and buy replacements from a local shoemaker after realizing the brothers know that Curtis's killer wore European shoes.]] Almost all of the suspects own [[spoiler:European shoes]] and [[spoiler:Old Red becomes suspicious of how they just happen to have locally sold shoes]], so that cover-up backfires.

* SummationGathering: Old Red naturally does these at the end of each case (although often with the clear indication that it's building up to some kind of fight), most impressively when does so in front a crowd of hundreds of people (along with the Crowes, and the various suspects) in ''World's Greatest Sleuth''. Subverted in ''A Crack in the Lens'' where first he and Big Red are alone with the sheriff and try to convince him of what they have figured out so far (which isn't everything), and later, once they have a complete picture, the brothers are AloneWithThePsycho and desperately trying to stall while being held at gunpoint. ''World's Greatest Sleuth'' also has M. Valmont do this, but he's largely bluffing, not having any definite conclusion of his own yet, and hoping to stir things up.

* OverprotectiveDad: Colonel Crowe is this to his adoptive daughter Diana, and shows some irritation in the brothers interest in her.

Otto "Big Red" Amlingmeyer, a German-American cowboy in the 1890's, finds himself stuck as TheWatson to his brother Gustav "Old Red", a taciturn (yet illiterate) detective studying the methods of ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''. The brothers gradually make both friends and enemies throughout their cases, which provide a mix of action-adventure, comedy, and detective fiction. The novels follow the brothers' journey from wannabe sleuths to near GreatDetective status.

-->'''Old Red:''' Who'd you think we were, anyway?\\

''"You mean [[spoiler:[[AmbiguousSyntax The man who took 'em?" I pantominined pressing a camera button with my thumb. Or the man who took 'em? I swiped an imaginary picture off the wall and tucked it under my jacket.]]]]''\\
'''Old Red:''' Good God, Otto--don't you see how it all fits together? [[spoiler:They're the same man.]]

3. ''The Black Dove'': A friend's murder in Chinatown has the brothers and their new associate Diana looking into DirtyCops' [[TriadsAndTongs Tongs]], and a mysterious missing prostitute.

5. ''World's Greatest Sleuth'': The brothers find themselves competing with lots of others detectives, including their old friend Diana, to win a $10,000 prize, and some much needed publicity, only to get involved in a deeper mystery when the contest organizer turns up dead.

2. ''On the Wrong Track'', working as railroad detectives, the Amlingmeyers' encounter train robbers, a famed PinkertonDetective, a woman who is not what she seems, a Chinese archaeologist trying to bring home some priceless artifacts, and more.

3. ''The Black Dove'', a friend's murder in Chinatown has the brothers and their new associate Diana looking into DirtyCops' [[TriadsAndTongs Tongs]], and a mysterious missing prostitute.

4. ''The Crack in the Lens'', the brothers journey to look into the years old death of Old Red's fiancee, encountering a resentful lawman, sinister pimps, and strong indications of a local SerialKiller.

6. ''The Double-A Western Detective Agency'', now working as part of a larger agency, the brothers journey to take a job that lands them in the middle of a race-fueled range war.

7. ''Dear Mr. Holmes'', a short story collection, with stories set at various points in the brothers lives.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: In [[spoiler: '''World's Greatest Sleuth'']] Big Red shoots the gun out of a bad guys hand, but later whispers to Old Red that he was aiming for his head.

* ImpersonationExclusieCharacter: In the [[spoiler: first]] book, [[spoiler: Perkins]] was murdered well before the events of the series by a man who needed to impersonate him, [[spoiler: Clara's husband, Nathaniel]].
* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: In a non-romantic version, in ''The Crack in the Lens'', Old Red pretends to suspect [[spoiler: Bob and Lottie]]] of the murder to angrily drive them away at a key point in the investigation and get them out of approaching danger.

* JackTheRipoff: The long ago murder of a prostitute in ''The Crack in the Lens'' has some resemblance to this. [[spoiler: and then it turns out there were a bunch of similar murders, and indeed the killer has a bunch of books on Jack the ripper in his house]].

* NarrativeProfanityFilter: The series isn't shy about swear words but uses the word "fudge" instead of fuck. It's even a running gag with [[SirSwearsALot Gus Bock]]) while noting that "fudge" isn't the actual word being used.

** Jack Martin is a bit of a blunderer and somewhat cowardly in the first book, but is introduced out searching for an escaped killer, and during Old Red's summation, gradually shows signs of believing him. He spends the final shootout that follows this cowering in a corner, but does get off a couple shots, one of which might have hit [[spoiler: Ully [[=McPherson=]]].

* SiblingsInCrime: Ully and Spider [[=McPherson=] are brothers in the first book who are pretty blatantly up to ''something'' criminal from the moment they appear. The same is trued of hired gunmen Knute and Konrad Karlsvik in the sixth book.

* SummationGathering: Old Red naturally does these at the end of each case (although often with the clear indication that it's building up to some kind of fight), most impressively when does so in front a crowd of hundreds of people (along with the Crowes', and the various suspects) in ''World's Greatest Sleuth''. Subverted in ''A Crack in the Lens'' where first he and Big Red are alone with the sheriff and try to convince him of what they have figured out so far (which isn't everything), and later, once they have a complete picture, the brothers are AloneWithThePsycho and desperately trying to stall while being held at gunpoint. ''World's Greatest Sleuth'' also has M. Valmont do this, but he's largely bluffing, not having any definite conclusion of his own yet, and hoping to stir things up.

* UnholyMatrimony: The murderers from [[spoiler: ''The Crack in the Lens'']] are a sadistic married couple.

--> '''Big Red:''' That's [[spoiler:Perkins, the VR's manager.]]
--> '''Brackwell:''' No, it's not. It's [[spoiler: Nathaniel Horne.]]

--> '''Kip:''' [[spoiler:Sorry, fellers. I can't have you messin' with that gold. I was [[ApologeticAttacker hoping' I wouldn't have to do this, but..well...]]]]

--> '''Old Red:''' Who'd you think we were, anyway?
--> '''Squirrel Tooth Annie:''' I thought it was my time to go. Like Adeline. [[SerialKiller And the others.]]

--> '''Old Red:''' I'm talkin' about [[spoiler:the man who took 'em.]]
--> ''"You mean [[spoiler:[[AmbiguousSyntax The man who took 'em?" I pantominined pressing a camera button with my thumb. Or the man who took 'em? I swiped an imaginary picture off the wall and tucked it under my jacket.]]]]
--> '''Old Red:''' Good God, Otto--don't you see how it all fits together? [[spoiler:They're the same man.]]

* RevealingCoverUp: In the first short story, Old Red observes that a suspicious drifter taken in by the cattle drive kept demanding everyone stay away from his saddle bags, which naturally made everyone more curious about them. Said saddle bags turn out to contain [[spoiler: Proof that the man is a wanted fugitive]]. This is inverted when Old Red deduces that [[spoiler:he was deliberately baiting them into looking into his saddlebags as part of a BatmanGambit to trick the cattle drive into taking him to the nearest town to turn him in for the reward, when a party of bushwhackers planning to kill them and steal the herd were waiting outside of said town]].