A Cowboy Detective

A True Story of Twenty-Two Years with a World Famous Detective Agency

By: Charles A. Siringo

Narrated by: Kevin Franzen

Charles Siringo was an author, detective, and lawman who spent 22 years fighting crime across America. He faced some of the most dangerous criminals of the late 19th century, including Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch gang.

Museum Audiobooks strives to present audiobook versions of authentic, unabridged historical texts from prior eras which contain a variety of points of view. The texts do not represent the views or opinions of Museum Audiobooks, and in certain cases may contain perspectives or language that is objectionable to the modern listener.

Public Domain (P)2018 Museum Audiobooks

I guess they really hate the author

The stories, as in his earlier book, are interesting. Yes, we now know he stretched some (ok, quite a few) of these tall tails, but they are certainly worth hearing. But the choice of narrator- I don’t know if it was meant to be a joke, the producer hoped to ridicule an author that’s been dead for nearly a century, or maybe the narrator was a buddy in truly desperate need of a paycheck. The author was a skirt chasing 19th century cowboy that became a Pinkerton detective, working undercover among cattle rustlers, murderers, high graders, dynamite throwing labor anarchists, and politicians. Basically around the scum of the earth. Now listen to the narration sample and see if the narrator convinced you that he could work his way into the Molly Maguires or hang out with Billy the Kid. Particularly when he talks about his “thirty to forty rifle.” .30-40 is pronounced “thirty forty”, just as .30-30 is “thirty thirty”. At least he doesn’t say “point four five Colt” when discussing the revolver.

If it’s free with your plan like it was in my case, it’s worth tolerating the narration. If you have to pay for it, there is another version available on Audible where the producer didn’t intentionally try to tank the book.

A Tenderfoot Narration

The story was good. The narration was lacking. Many names and towns were mispronounced… took away from the overall experience.

A neat story of a cowboy detective

The book was very enjoyable, I own a physical copy and have read it a couple time. I was excited to find it on Audible. But the reader was not well suited for this type of book.
Many town names were mispronounced and you could tell, the reader didn't understand or appreciate the subject.
I'd still recommend the book, just be prepared to scratch your head at how badly the reader mispronounces familiar town and place names.