AustLit

'This is the sequel to Sherlock Holmes on the Wild Frontier. In that first book, Holmes meets a trapper, Foster Keehoe who teaches him the finer points of sign reading. In return he teaches the mountain man to read and write and continues to stay in touch after his return to England. This book takes up the story 14 years later. When Keehoe find gold and strikes it rich, he doesn't hesitate to enlist Holmes' aid to find his daughter who is somewhere in England and bring her to meet him in America.

'Hilda Keehoe is less than personable and Holmes has little tolerance for her, even the easy going Watson is irritated. They escort her to Phoenix, Arizona only to find Keehoe has been murdered, but the thieves did not get what they were after-the map to his silver mine. Holmes swears to avenge his death. To lure the killers, they set out to find the mine, joining forces with a 13 year old half Indian boy named Spotted Deer who appears strangely familiar to Holmes, even more so when it turns out his mother was Plump Beaver. It is Watson's turn to suffer the torment of emotion and unrequited love as he falls for a young abused widow, Emma, whom Hilda hires as her maid. Once again they encounter those rare individuals of the frontier, and even meet some old friends along the way, until the final shooting showdown. It could only happen in America....' (Publication summary)