World’s Greatest Sleuth! by Steve Hockensmith
A cluster of curious tourists had stopped to gawp at us like we were another display at the Fair – the World’s Biggest Fools, perhaps. – Otto Amlingmeyer
First introduced to readers in Holmes on the Range, brothers Gustav “Old Red” and Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer are cowboys turned detectives in late 1890’s America. World’s Greatest Sleuth!, the fifth entry in the series, finds Sherlock Holmes disciple Gustav (“Some folks get religion. Gustav got Sherlock Holmes.”) and Watson-esque brother Otto summoned to Chicago to participate in a mystery solving competition at the 1893 Columbian Exposition (aka Chicago World’s Fair).
Upon arrival, the brothers find themselves up against famous crime solvers from around the world, including frenemies Col. Crowe and Diana Corvus (On the Wrong Track and The Black Dove). The competitors are challenged with solving a set of clues each day, with the winner of the most daily competitions at the end of the contest being crowned the “World’s Greatest Sleuth.”
Things take a serious turn, however, when the competition’s organizer is found dead on the second day of the competition..face down in a giant vat of cheese (The Mammoth Cheese From Canada – Weight 22,000 Pounds). Though the local police seem inclined to write it off as an accidental death, Gustav and Otto think there’s more to it than meets the eye and, as Holmes would say, the game is afoot to find the killer. (more…)
