TROTTING INTO TROUBLE

Rescuing horses, like investigating murders, is not for the faint of heart.

Former nurse Mallory Martin is pursuing her dream of horse rescue on the family farm in Arkansas. Taking in an emaciated mare found by the sheriff as he was raiding a meth lab is just the start of yet another case. With the help of Tanner and Ashley, her dedicated, barely paid helpers, Mallory manages on a shoestring budget. A visit from Coach Douglas Griggs, a favorite high school teacher, now retired, who’s looking for a quiet horse, leaves her with a bad feeling. Exhausted from dealing with a dangerous case of colic in the new mare, Mallory, called by Sheriff Grady Sullivan to catch a loose horse, runs into a drunk who raves about a dead man. She catches the horse just as she finds the body of Coach Griggs, who’s been shot. Despite warnings from Grady and her boyfriend, lawyer Andy Hannigan, and a bad leg caused by a kick from Griggs’ horse, Mallory just can’t stop herself from sleuthing. The thumb drive she’s found attached to the horse’s tack might provide a clue if it weren’t password-protected. Blaming the horse, Griggs’ wife gives him to Mallory and asks her to pick up Griggs’ things from the school, a trip that alerts her to a possible case of grade manipulation. In addition, Griggs always wore an orange vest that’s gone missing. Discovering the hidden vest elevates the death from hunting accident to murder. The more Mallory looks, the more suspects turn up.

Detailed descriptions of the trials and triumphs of horse rescue mix well with a mystery that keeps you guessing.