Strong Medicine

Holmes On the Range #8

by Steve Hockensmith

Big Red and Old Red ride into Galveston, Texas, a city of elegant Victorian mansions and dark waterfront secrets, when a wealthy businessman burns to death in his own warehouse. The brothers find a town crawling with suspects: a brilliant female scientist, an eccentric would-be snake-oil salesman, a volatile socialite and a charismatic “healer” whose devoted followers will do anything she demands. As blackmail, madness and murder tangle beneath Galveston’s gleaming surface, the Amlingmeyers must separate miracle from menace before the killer delivers another dose of strong (and deadly) medicine.

Genres: Mystery

274 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 14, 2026

About the author

Steve Hockensmith is the author of the New York Times bestseller Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls and several other novels, including the Edgar Award finalist Holmes on the Range. He lives in Alameda, California.

Reviews

[Mark Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s the summer of 1894, and brothers Old Red and Big Red have traveled to Galveston, Texas. They aren’t on an official case, but they have gone down to help their friend Olivia Pertwee. Her family has suffered from a blackmailer, but their business partner just died in a fire in his warehouse. Is someone out to destroy the family’s business?

It’s always a pleasure to pick up a book in this series. I found the suspects perfect for keeping me confused, but I really liked the growth we saw in the brothers. I did figure out part of the plot out early, but the rest kept me guessing until the logical climax. This series isn’t a cozy series, but as long as you know that going in, you’ll be fine. I laughed so often, both at the relationship between the brothers and the antics of the suspects. As always, I am looking forward to seeing where the author will take us next.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Amlingmeyer brothers have started their own detective agency, modeling themselves after their hero, Sherlock Holmes. Gustav is learning to read so he can follow his role model without having to get his younger brother to read to him. Big Red (Otto) and Old Red (Gustav) are invited down to Galveston, Tx to solve the mystery of the murder of a wealthy businessman's partner. They meet a cast of amusing characters and get into trouble repeatedly while they do their "deducifying." The Holmes on the Range series is always good for some delightful distraction.

[Aaron Vosmeier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Little Weak

Just not as good as the other books in the series. Expectations are high every book and for it sadly didn’t deliver.