RACE INTO MURDER

After their first major success, a couple involved in horse racing encounter deadly foes in this mystery novel.

Black, the author of Mountain Justice (2013), effectively immerses the reader in the world of competitive horse racing in this work, and it’s a vivid setting for a book that combines sports and crime fiction. As the story opens, Black describes how FraziersFury, a thoroughbred horse, “pricked his ears, arched his neck, and with the slightest of bucks, danced his way onto the dirt oval” where the race begins. Additionally, the author offers detailed dialogue by the race announcer: “On the far outside, FraziersFury is gaining with every stride…Nordstrom has moved past BaskervillesBobby…FraziersFury is moving right with him.” Nordstrom, the losing horse, belongs to Angie McCoy, a wealthy trainer who enlists her lawyer, Nelson Dickenson, to purchase FraziersFury from the owners. When Natalie Frazier, a horse breeder and wife of trainer Jeff Frazier, turns down Nelson’s offer, someone tries to steal FraziersFury, but Santos Velasquez, the groom, chases them away. After the Fraziers’ horse defeats Nordstrom again, someone lures Natalie to a secluded area and kidnaps her; however, she escapes and hotwires a truck. After reuniting with Jeff, though, Natalie insists on watching FraziersFury race, bringing the focus back to racing. Overall, the novel is likely to thrill racing aficionados. However, mystery readers may wish that it had a tighter, more suspenseful plot. As it is, roughly 50 pages separate each crime, and the most important one—a murder of a major character—doesn’t come until the novel’s halfway point. The rest of the novel, though, focuses on who’s behind the killing and other criminal acts, such as cutting the brakes on a truck, which leads to one man’s hospitalization.

A middling mystery, but a persuasive look inside professional horse racing.