SARATOGA HEADHUNTER

by Stephen Dobyns ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1985

Charlie Bradshaw, ex-cop and part-time sleuth (Saratoga Longshot, Saratoga Swimmer), is doing pretty poorly--moonlighting as a pre-dawn milkman, limping along in shamus-partnership with seedy Victor Plotz--when his luck gets even worse: fat ex-jockey Jimmy McClatchy, prosecution witness in a race-fixing case, shows up as an uninvited, ungrateful houseguest, desperate for a hideaway from the mob. And very soon thereafter Charlie comes home to find a headless McClatchy in the kitchen! Did the mob succeed in snuffing out an enemy-witness? So everyone believes. Furthermore, just about everyone believes that Charlie leaked McClatchy's whereabouts to the mob. So, to regain his honor, Charlie must prove that McClatchy was killed by some non-mob assassin: while two more murders (an old racetrack hanger-on, a horse-owner) furnish additional clues, the sleuthing uncovers a racehorse scare (involving respectable locals) and leads to a busy windup--with the reappearance of McClatchy's head, an attempted frame-up, and a milk-truck chase. After a fine start, Dobyns' plotting here becomes fairly bland and predictable; the race-track evil lacks Dick Francis' color and punch. But Charlie himself remains an endearingly woebegone hero (especially in encounters with his posh, condescending cousins), and this is an agreeable addition to a sturdy series.

Pub Date: April 1, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1985

Categories: FICTION