The annual steeplechase races at Montpelier, once the home
of James and Dolley Madison, are the high point in the
social calendar of the horse-mad Virginians of cozy
Crozet. The race meet offers a cracking good time with old
friends and a chance to get even - on the racecourse -
with old enemies. Postmistress Mary Minor "Harry"
Haristeen will be in the thick of the action on this day
of high spirits and fierce competition. But the glorious
thoroughbreds and the pinks and greens and purples worn by
the riders do not blind Harry to the dangerous
undercurrents that start to surface. There's sure to be
some emotional fireworks at Montpelier. Still, no one
expects the day to end in tragedy." "Found dead in the
main barn is one of the day's riders, a knife plunged
through the jockey's heart. The only clue is a playing
card, the Queen of Clubs, impaled over the fatal wound.
Within the wealthy, tight-knit world of horse owners,
trainers, and jockeys, the victim had both admirers and
enemies." "Was the murderer's motive greed, drugs - a
pervasive evil in the race world - or sexual rivalry?
Luckily for Crozet's humans, the tiger cat Mrs. Murphy is
right at home in the stable yard...and on the trail of the
shocking truth. But will Harry catch on in time to stop a
killer grown bloodthirsty with success?.