Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier [Paperback]

Magda Jozsa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2005

Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier is an entertaining story about the unforseen adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Leaving London, England, they make their way to Colorado. During their Wild West escapades, they encounter robbers, gaudy women of easy virtue, cowboys, and Indians. In a mixture of action, mystery, and romance, Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier is a story everyone will enjoy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bitten by the writing bug at the age of fourteen when The Australian Woman's Weekly magazine published a short story written by her, Magda Jozsa is a resident of Ballarat, Australia. She writes mysteries and is a huge fan of the Sherlock Holmes tales. Ms. Jozsa has won several writing awards, starting with a writing contest with the Australian Star Trek Fan magazine, 1998. She received first prize for her first novel titled God's Disciple, in the Gardenia Press 2001 writing competition. In 2003, a short story she wrote was published in Tall Tales and Short Stories. A sequel of her Sherlock Holmes adventures is tentatively titled, Return to the Wild Frontier. This work-in-progress follows more explorations of the saga of Sherlock Holmes. Ms. Jozsa is passionate about the character of Holmes because the detective captures the imagination of his audience. Once read, Holmes is never forgotten.

Product Details

• Paperback: 314 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (March 7, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419602608
• ISBN-13: 978-1419602603
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,000,564 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wild, Indeed!, December 23, 2005

By 

Rory Coker (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier (Paperback)

Holmes and Watson in a shootout on Front Street? In a stagecoach holdup? Rescuing captives from the Indians? Mowing down a murderous gang of outlaws? And much, much more? Yes, indeed. In this far-fetched outing, Holmes and Watson journey to the Wild West to try to track down the missing heir to a fortune. Modern writers often have a problem in spinning out a new Holmes adventure to novel length... Conan Doyle himself never mastered the trick. To keep Holmes baffled there usually must be one character who is so extraordinarily stupid that his actions and motives are unforeseeable even by Holmes. Here it's the missing heir himself, Cathcart Plymouth, who is depicted as so mindless that it seems impossible he can dress himself and tie his shoes.

There are a number of problems with this novel. First, the author has not been able to resist the temptation which so often presents itself to female Holmes authors: to invent a female character who would win Holmes' admiration, and even affection. Here the female, and Holmes' reaction to her, are consistently jarring. Even worse, Holmes himself seems to be replaced temporarily by a female impersonator at some point in every chapter. The impersonator is not detected by Watson, but is obvious to the long-suffering reader when "Holmes" suddenly gets the vapors, the hot flashes, the "not tonight" headaches, or blathers emotionally about "his" latest hunches, intuitions, "feelings" and premonitions.

Ms. Jozsa has given us plot out the bleeding wazoo, plot and action to spare, wild derring-do in nearly every chapter, with Holmes, Watson, the mindless Plymouth and his spunky wife in just as much continuous danger on an ocean liner or back home at the family castle as they were in the wild and untamed Old West. So you'll keep reading once you start, but you'll be pretty much starved for characterization, and for the presence of the good old high-strung, rude but brilliant Holmes we all know and love.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This story is lame!, February 19, 2006

By 

Katrina Evans "Trina" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier (Paperback)

True Sherlockians'll know immediately upon beginning to read this book that this story has no place in the Canon. It would never have occurred. This Australian writer attempts to depict the American frontier but fails miserably. The dialect doesn't ring true. The characters are one dimensional. Several times Holmes makes Watson the butt of his jokes. He even sells him down the river, something Holmes would never do. The attempts at humor border farce and are tiresome and overdone. It's formulaic and predictable. It falls short of delivering what Holmes fans have come to expect from stories written about him and Watson.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely hilarious, March 11, 2005

By 

maggie (australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier (Paperback)

Loved this book. The author stayed true to Conon Doyle, while at the same time infusing her own stamp on these characters, bringing more depth to both Holmes and Watson. Some parts were hilarious, some were touching.

The basic plot is that Holmes and Watson are hired by Sir Eustace Plymouth to go the Colorado USA to find his son, Cathcart. Cathcart has had a 6 month head start and is rather inept. Their journey takes them through San Francisco, Denver, mining towns and rugged mountain country. They encounter all manner of fronteir characters from saloon women to cowboys and indians, miners, gunslingers and the townfolk that make up the back bone of the west. There is an absolutely hilarious bit where Holmes is trying to retrieve his stolen wallet from a saloon woman. This was a rivetting and thoroughly enjoyable read. I recommend it to anyone.