Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots

Ambrose Bierce #5

by Oakley Hall

Oakley Hall’s Ambrose Bierce mystery series has gained an impressive list of devotees, from Richard Ford to Diane Johnson and Amy Tan to Thomas Keneally. The sights, sounds, and smells of 1890s San Francisco surround readers as larger-than-life Ambrose “Bitter” Bierce tracks California’s notorious criminal minds.

The fifth volume in the series, Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots follows the outspoken newspaperman as he and his associate Tom Redmond hunt down a celebrity shooter. When Colonel Studely brings his world-famous Wild West Show to town, he gets more than just a warm welcome. As the parade makes its way down Market Street, the colonel is shot dead. With clues and sinister motives—a trail of seduction, a vengeful train robber, a haze of opium— emerging from every direction, Bierce is stymied, but pierces the fog to reveal the true culprit. Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots is a rough-and-tumble romp through gritty old San Francisco.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Oakley Hall also wrote under the nom de plume of O.M. Hall and Jason Manor.

Oakley Maxwell Hall was an American novelist. He was born in San Diego, California, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and served in the Marines during World War II. Some of his mysteries were published under the pen names "O.M. Hall" and "Jason Manor." Hall received his Master of Fine Arts in English from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book rating 3.5 stars

Having read quite a bit of Ambrose Bierce’s The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary this title seemed interesting to me. Some years ago, I picked it up at deeply discounted used book sale at my local bookstore, that it was practically free. As my usual method, didn’t know what to expect with this book.

First off, it’s a series of titles and this one is not the first, it’s the fifth. So the main characters are perhaps more developed in earlier books of the series. I expected Ambrose Bierce to be the main character, but he wasn’t. Not sure if it’s that way in the series, or just this book. Instead the narrator is Tom Redmond, a journalist for the newspaper Examiner in San Francisco. Bierce also writes for the newspaper a column called "Prattle". They are friends, Bierce does come up in the story, but he’s more of a side-kick in this book. Of course, this is a fictional Bierce modeled from the real person.

Both are sometimes detectives and for this book they are summoned to a case of a murder. During a parade for the Colonel Studely Wild West Show the colonel himself is shot dead. High on the list of suspects is Oswald “Oz” Bird, train robber and recently out of jail for the shootings in Hungry Valley. His ex-wife Dora Pratt is the Ace of Shoots in the Wild West Show and Studley had taken her under his wing. Bird doesn’t consider the divorce to be valid and so has a vendetta against Studley.
The writing was good. The book has a historical feel as this takes place in 1892. Really liked how each chapter began with an entry out of the Devil’s Dictionary.

While the book was enjoyable enough, it wasn’t something I was floored by and want to search for the other books in the series.

[Jeff Bradbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of the Ambrose Bierce Novels. But glad I read it. I have now completed all of the Bierce Novels. 18 of Hall's works read...10 to go.

[Kevin Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine end to the series.

[Alison C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't generally hold with real historical individuals being made into characters in (usually mystery) novels set in their historical period, but Oakley Hall's Ambrose Bierce series is one that I quite enjoy, no doubt at least in part because it's set in 1890s San Francisco. In Ambrose Bierce and the Ace of Shoots, the fifth in the series, Ambrose and his sidekick/fellow journalist Tom Redmond, run across Dora Pratt, a "shootist" with a Wild West show who rivals the more famous Annie Oakley; Tom, as is his wont, falls in love with her, but Dora has many dark secrets and a shady past which includes a liaison with the traveling show's owner and a marriage to Oz Bird, the infamous outlaw, bank robber and multiple murderer. When first, then the other of her paramours turns up dead, it's up to Ambrose to sort out the suspects to get to the real killer - before Dora is hanged for the deeds. You don't need to have read the earlier books in this series to enjoy this one, and even having some acquaintance with Bierce's rather acerbic misogyny isn't necessary since Hall thoughtfully heads each chapter with an entry from his famous work, The Devil's Dictionary. Light and fun, definitely recommended!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

So-so book. I love a good western, but I've read better. For a funny western, I'd recommend The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion by Loren D. Estleman or Telegraph Days: A Novel byLarry McMurtry.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Using Ambrose Bierce as a fictional detective in 1890s San Francisco was a good idea. Unfortunately, the author wasn't quite up to it. In this book, Bierce is only a vague side-character. Instead, we're bored by a bland, no-personality narrator named Tom Redmond, who's supposed to be Bierce's "Dr. Watson". Dr. Watson had 100 times more personality than this character. Redmond falls in love with a Wild West show sharpshooter a la Annie Oakley, some murders happen, bla bla bla. The Golden Age San Francisco is presented nicely but otherwise I had to force myself to keep reading it.

[Megan]

Meh. I was kind of ambivalent about this book. I liked the historical aspect, but couldn't get that into the plot. And I had absolutely no sense of the characters at all. In fact, I'm writing this up about a month after I read it, and I don't really remember anything that happened in the book, and probably wouldn't even remember having read it if it weren't sitting on my pile of books to give away.

[Fishsanwitt]

stamped

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, a Western Sherlock Holmes and Watson, but it just didn't keep me interested. Even the leading lady was hard to like and the story just wasn't enough.

[Ginger Heskett]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14340665