A satisfying treat for horse and murder mystery lovers.
A sports journalist and amateur detective tries to track down the killer of a teenager in this mystery series opener.
Two and a half years ago, 16-year-old Stacy Jean Milhouse stole a horse and trailer from the stable where she worked and ran away from home. At least that was how it looked. The trailer was found abandoned but the girl and the horse were never seen again—until a wildlife rescue team found human bones while saving a goose in a local marsh. Stacy never made it a mile from the stable and her death was no accident. Journalist Jess Kennard covered horse racing at the highest level until one exposé unexpectedly led to bloodshed. Keeping a low profile at her family’s horse rehabilitation farm in Kentucky, Jess abandons all hope of peace and quiet when she learns about Stacy’s murder. Having practically raised Stacy after the death of her mother, Jess feels devastated (“She was like my little sister…Or maybe my daughter. A bit of both”). The protagonist puts her investigative skills and knowledge of the horse world to use as an unofficial consultant to the local police. Jess and Det. Joe Schuler, a college friend, have a limited amount of time to look for clues before the killer becomes aware of their search. When the pair begins to close in on newly elected U.S. Rep. Paul Renfrew and his family, the stakes grow higher—and deadlier. This an immersive, adventurous novel that dresses up mystery tropes by placing them in the cutthroat world of elite horse racing. DePrima’s intimate, detailed depiction of Kentucky horse country elevates the story even if the final reveal of the killer is a bit of a letdown. The motivations behind the murder seem too impulsive to justify the buildup. Still, Jess is the perfect protagonist for a mystery series: plucky, stubborn, and independent, with a hidden vulnerable side. Her long history with Joe makes the chemistry between them easy and exciting. But the setting is the standout here; the author deftly takes readers to a place that feels lived-in and dangerous.
A satisfying treat for horse and murder mystery lovers.Pub Date: May 15, 2023
ISBN: 979-8987508800
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bowker
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.
The feds must protect an accused criminal and an orphaned girl.
Maybe you’ve met him before as protagonist of The 6:20 Man (2022): Ex-Army Ranger Travis Devine, who’d had the dubious fortune to tangle with “the girl on the train,” is now assigned by his homeland security boss to protect Danny Glass, who's awaiting trial on multiple RICO charges in Washington state. Devine has what it takes: He “was a closer, snooper, fixer, investigator,” and, when necessary, a killer. These skills are on full display as the deaths of three key witnesses grind justice to a temporary halt. Glass has a 12-year-old niece, Betsy Odom, and each is the other’s only living relative—her parents recently died of an apparent drug overdose. The FBI has temporary guardianship of Betsy, who's a handful. She tells Travis that though she’s not yet 13, she's 28 in “life-shit years.” The financially well-heeled Glass wants to be her legal guardian with an eye to eventual adoption, but what are his real motives? And what happens to her if he's convicted? Meanwhile, Betsy insists that her parents never touched drugs, and she begs Travis to find out how they really died. This becomes part of a mission that oozes danger. The small town of Ricketts has a woman mayor who’s full of charm on the surface, but deeply corrupt and deadly when crossed. She may be linked to a subversive group called "12/24/65," as in 1865, when the Ku Klux Klan beast was born. Blood flows, bombs explode, and people perish, both good guys and not-so-good guys. Readers might ponder why in fiction as well as in life, it sometimes seems necessary for many to die so one may live. And what about the girl on the train? She's not necessary to the plot, but she's a fun addition as she pops in and out of the pages, occasionally leaving notes for Travis. Maybe she still wants him dead.
Fast-moving excitement with a satisfying finish.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781538757901
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat.
A routine break-in at the home of Sûreté homicide chief Armand Gamache leads slowly but surely to the revelation of a potentially calamitous threat to all Québec.
At first it seems as if nothing at all triggered the burglar alarm at Gamache’s home in Three Pines; it was literally a false alarm. It’s not till he receives a package containing his summer jacket that Gamache realizes someone really did get into his house, choosing to steal exactly this one item and return it with a cryptic note referring to “some malady…water” and “Angelica stems.” Having already refused to meet with Jeanne Caron, chief of staff to Marcus Lauzon, a powerful politician who’s already taken vengeance on Gamache and his family for not expunging his child’s criminal record, Gamache now agrees to meet with Charles Langlois, a marine biologist with ties to Caron who confesses to a leading role in stealing Gamache’s jacket. Their meeting ends inconclusively for Gamache, who’s convinced that Langlois is hiding something weighty, and all too conclusively for Langlois, who’s killed by a hit-and-run driver as he leaves. The news that Langlois had been investigating a water supply near the abbey of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups sends Gamache scurrying off to the abbey, where the plot steadily thickens until he’s led to ask how “an old recipe for Chartreuse” can possibly be connected to “a terrorist plot to poison Québec’s drinking water.” That’s a great question, and answering it will take the second half of this story, which spins ever more intricate connections among leading players that become deeply unsettling.
One of those rare triple-deckers that’s actually worth every page, every complication, every bead of sweat.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250328137
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
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