Book Review: Tombstone & Speedy, Range Detectives by W.C. Tuttle
W.C. Tuttle (1883-1969) was a prolific author of short stories and novels, almost entirely Westerns. One of his specialties was comedic detective Western stories, with cowpokes solving mysteries, not always with their brains. This volume collects three such stories starring the duo of Speedy Smith and Tombstone Jones.
Tombstone’s nearly seven feet tall, rail-thin and the brains of the operation (relatively speaking) but illiterate. Speedy’s five foot seven and handles all the reading and writing, but takes severe blows to the head in every story which may have affected his reasoning ability. They work for (in some sense of the word “work”) Jim Keaton of the Cattlemen’s Association, primarily dealing with cattle rustling.
“The Short Cut”: While cutting through a canyon described to them as a shortcut, the duo encounter a surly cattle driver who shoots one of their horses. Taking refuge in an isolated telegraph station, Tombstone and Speedy are in just the right spot to thwart a train robbery, but don’t get credit for that. But there’s still some cattle theft to be investigated.
“Trail of the Flame”: Tombstone and Speedy are temporarily flush due to a large reward from their last case. Their brand new buggy, though, gets smashed up in a collision. This entangles our heroes in a complex case involving horse thieves, the Border Patrol, a wastrel son, and a missing diamond. Some ethnic stereotyping.
“Alias Adam Jones”: Tombstone’s name actually is Jones, though he wasn’t born “Tombstone.” (He changed it from Hacksaw Jones when he reformed, but that wasn’t his birth name either.) When rancher John Adam Jones is murdered, Tombstone is persuaded to let on that he might be long-lost heir Adam Jones to help smoke out the killer. It’s a story of star-crossed lovers, attempted assassination, and an Eastern dude with a secret twist of his own.
These stories were originally printed in Exciting Western back in the 1940s, and include plenty of excitement. Tombstone and Speedy are amiable characters who get along well with some teasing, and while not exactly sharp-minded are smarter than most people they meet assume. Much of the humor comes from their dialogue as they bumble through their cases.
That said, the humor doesn’t always land, and if you’re not into the leg-pulling style of joke, you might not enjoy these stories.
Recommended to fans of Western pulp fiction who enjoy finding rarer treasures.
Disclaimer: I received an Advance Review Copy from the publisher, https://brickpicklemedia.com/books/ , to facilitate the writing of this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. Some small changes may occur in the finished product.
