In Mrs. Sheila Malory's sixteenth outing, our amateur
sleuth is involved with the horsy set. Her granddaughter,
Alice, is taking riding lessons at the stables of Sheila's
old friends, Jo and Charlie Hamilton. Jo was an
accomplished stage actress until she gave it up to marry
Charlie, who was an outstanding horseman until an accident
left him with a permanent injury. Sheila and Rosemary
have been best friends since their school days and now
their granddaughters are becoming friends. Rosemary's
granddaughter, Delia, is also taking riding lessons, but
more advanced ones than beginner Alice.
Charlie's body is discovered early one morning in his
office inside the stables. After a careful investigation,
an accidental death verdict is rendered. Sheila thinks
otherwise as she heard him in a violent argument with a
client stabling a horse. Life does go on, however, until
another death happens within the closely knitted horse
community. Jo's brother-in-law dies of a heart attack.
The next death is another accident at the Hamilton's riding
school. Again, Sheila's "murder antennae" are quivering.
Hazel Holt's narrative is a slow, even-paced voice. There
are many, many supporting characters, which I am sure
followers of this series might possibly know. The
question in everyone's mind is -- are the accidents actually
accidents, and if there is foul play, why? Everyone will
be surprised at the outcome.
Sheila Malory’s old friends Charlie and Jo Hamilton run a
popular riding school in the quiet English town of
Taviscombe. When Charlie is found dead in his stables from
a blow to the head—with only his horses as witnesses to
his final moments— the entire community is shaken.
Especially since Charlie’s is just the first in a series
of shocking and suspicious deaths. Mrs. Malory is on the
case, but the trail of clues, from an unlucky horseshoe to
a lethal electric fence, proves to be anything but a
smooth ride.