CHASING CANS

A horse doctor on the mommy track can’t help getting involved in murder.

Gail McCarthy (Moonblind, 2006, etc.) has taken a leave from her clinic to raise her son Mac, laze around and enjoy the beauties of her northern California property, complete with riding horses. When her hard-edged neighbor, well-known trainer and barrel racer Lindee Stone, calls and tells her to move her horses out of a field she’s been using, she learns that Lindee has blackmailed the woman who owns the property into leasing it to her. Breathing fire, Gail leaves Mac with her husband, Blue, and heads for Lindee’s training barn. She’s just in time to watch Lindee die when the horse she’s training to run barrels rears, falls and crushes her. Was Lindee indeed out cold before she hit the ground? Gail confides her suspicions to her friend, Detective Jeri Ward. Unfortunately, Lindee had so many enemies that almost everyone she knew is a suspect: her ex-husband; several past and present live-in lovers; and many people whose husbands she’s slept with, horses she’s ruined or finances she’s depleted. When one of Lindee’s assistants is almost killed in another equine accident, Gail feels compelled to investigate.

Crum hints that despite Gail’s strong maternal feelings, she may be missing her busy and exciting former life. This easily solved case could be a prelude to more adventures.