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DEATH REINS IN
by Michele Scott
Berkley, June 2007
272 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0425216098


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Michaela Bancroft and her friend Audrey Pratt travel into California for the races. They will watch from Kathleen Bowmen's box and then inspect horses for their independent businesses. Kathleen's daughter Olivia is to perform during the opening ceremonies and Kathleen has a race running in a race.

Unfortunately this event is disastrous. While Olivia's performance goes great, this is the only portion of the event that does. Bob Pratt, Audrey's brother, who is supposed to be at the event on the behalf of Eq Tech does not show. Bob has a history of substance abuse and many fear he has fallen off the wagon. Eq Tech produces a horse supplement that is starting to become wildly distributed and Bob's disappearance does not bode well for the company.

Then a horse is injured and almost put down. While Kathleen refuses to have him put down, it will take a lot of money to heal him and his racing days are over. Then Audrey's body is discovered. This death creates a stir as no one expects murder to occur at the races.

Michaela wants to solve this crime in order to provide herself with a sense of closure. There are numerous suspects and the situation is murky. For example, Hugh, Kathleen's ex-husband, still has a close relationship with Audrey. Would Kathleen be jealous enough to kill her? How about Hugh's current wife? Did Audrey's business sense create more problems then they solved? Or does Bob's disappearance and Eq Tech have something to do with this murder? Michaela must piece together the truth before the killer claims another victim.

While I am capable of reading murder mysteries in which humans are injured, attacked or killed, I have problems reading a book in which an animal is harmed. I find that people willing to harm animals are more threatening and frightening then people who harm humans. For this reason I normally avoid books in which animals appear.

So with this reservation in mind, I approached DEATH REINS IN with some trepidation. While the horses or at least the horses' injures are not in the foreground, they are still part of this story. I found it difficult to overlook this element of the story, although other readers might not have the same difficulty.

Putting aside the issue of animals being harmed in mysteries, DEATH REINS IN is typical of the contemporary cozy. Modern cozies tend to go in two directions – the craft genre or the independent/plucky woman who plays amateur detective and finds herself getting into trouble. DEATH REINS IN falls into this second category. That said' this book uses a lot of stereotypes, trite and/or implausible situations and atypical behavior in order to get its story across.

If you are a fan of this cozy sub-genre and are accepting of the occasionally trite phrase then you will probably enjoy this book. If you like originality or are not a fan of this side of the genre, then DEATH REINS IN is not the book for you.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, June 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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