Shelbyville, Tennessee, is the location for this slightly
spooky mystery as journalist and cold-case resolver Olivia
Honeycutt enters the world of the Tennessee Walking Horses.
Everyone she meets knows more about THE WALKING HORSES than
Olivia does, so non-horsey readers needn't worry that they
will be lost in jargon as our heroine asks for
explanations.
Olivia, who occasionally consults lingering spirits, takes
on the case of Eloise Venable Freeman, who with her infant
daughter, Andrea, died in a house fire tragedy thirty years
ago. They lived at a stud farm and Eloise's relatives,
still producing fine horses, would like some resolution,
since the case was never closed.
Characters include Presley Warren, Olivia's police
detective boyfriend, and her lively cat Toby, who trains
his hunting skills on anything that moves. The multi-
generational family at the stud farm is one haunted by
tragedy, tied by their business but divided by pain and --
it turns out -- concealment. Because somebody knows how the
fire started, something that puzzled even the veteran fire
inspector Olivia interviews.
Among other twists the tale remarks on the outlawed
practice of 'soring' or hurting the handsome horses to make
them lift their feet higher in the show ring. Thank
goodness, everyone we meet is far too concerned for their
horses' welfare to carry out cruelty. Animal lovers will
have a good time with this mystery, and if anyone is
worried by consulting sad spirits, remind yourself that it
is just fiction. The story THE WALKING HORSES is suitable
for mature teens and adults.
Linda S. Browning, who has also written about senior sleuths
Leslie and Belinda, previously looked at a case in
Nashville in her 'Parlor Game Mystery' series. The next
story about Olivia will focus on a cold case about a
women's asylum, something that would please Nellie Bly, the
first investigative journalist, who went undercover in a
women's asylum. I'm looking forward to the read.
It all started with a haunted Ouija board in Nashville and
the cold case murder of Sophie Mathews. Then, Henry Meyer
did not commit suicide in his tobacco barn in Columbia and
the case went cold. When Olivia Honeycutt takes on the case
of Eloise Venable Freeman, she must accept her paranormal
proclivities. Eloise and her infant daughter, Andrea,
allegedly died in a horrific fire thirty years ago. Her
husband, David, is not satisfied with ashes. David wants
answers. Olivia travels to Shelbyville, Tennessee, and the
world of the Walking Horses to solve her most challenging
mystery to date.
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