REVELATION OF THE BLACK HORSE

In Davis’ mystery, a Canadian veterinarian and his police detective wife travel to England, where a murder has occurred with connections to their home.

Larry Potter is a racetrack veterinarian in Ontario who has recently been badly injured and undergone skin grafts. As he recovers, he and his wife, Jenna Lawson, a police investigator, travel to England to stay at a coastal B&B. They find a nice place in Devon, but there is a problem: A local murder trial, complete with gory details, is all over the news, and the story unsettles Larry and Jenna. The murderer fixed the victim’s genitals to a tree with an arrow—a detail that has frightened the community. Local attorney Adam Carlson knows jurors will think this flourish “demonstrated a depravity, a devilry, which had to be stopped.” Another murder occurs, this one next door to a woman named Martha Henry. She is not British, and Larry and Jenna think she bears a striking resemblance to someone back home. Adam is defending the accused in the murder trial and is dating Martha—but is there more to her than meets the eye? As a widower, Adam relates to the widowed Martha, but after being suspected of causing her husband’s death in Canada, Adam needs to know the full story, both for personal and professional reasons. Davis’ murder mystery, the second in a series, brings back characters from the previous novel and introduces new faces in England. The story is complex and highly personal to each character, and the narrative provides the solid backstories needed to contextualize the characters’ passions and crimes. There are a few too many police officers in a cast that already has a robust number of characters, and the number of murders, including those in the past and present, is also rather high; still, the story remains clear, and the resolution is satisfying.

A complex, twisty mystery that chillingly describes murderous acts in a coastal English village.