Second in the 'Carson Stables Mystery' series set on the
windswept Olympic Peninsula, SADDLE UP FOR MURDER by Leigh
Hearon is the tale of Annie Carson who cares more for
animals than people. She doesn't have much of a
relationship with local law enforcement, other than
working with them to rescue a neglected mule. That
relationship changes drastically, however, when she finds
a young woman dead in her own barn.
Ashley Lawton, who had loved horses, recently had asked
Annie for a job, but Annie was so used to doing everything
herself she refused. Is this the reason Ashley hung
herself? Or was the scene staged by a murderer, and in
either case, why pick Annie's horse barn?
Sheriff Dan Stetson tells her Ashley had worked for a home
help service but left after finding an elderly lady dead
in her bed. Allegedly, Ashley had been helping herself to
the patient's pills. This combination of fishy
circumstances makes the sheriff warn Annie to keep her
rifle on hand at night.
The story, while engaging, has a plot gap. Readers are
regularly told Annie has two dogs and a donkey that alert
her to intruders. But the dogs are not mentioned when the
police are present and no one ever asks Annie if her dogs
had barked during the night. This makes it seem as if the
book was written by two authors, one for the crime scenes
and one for animal scenes.
SADDLE UP FOR MURDER is the continuation of REIGNING IN
MURDER and readers would benefit from reading the original
story first.
At first, horse trainer and Carson Stables owner Annie
Carson blames the random losses of local livestock on
feral animals stalking Olympic Peninsula county’s farms
and ranches. But when one of her own flock is found
savagely slaughtered, it gets personal. Then it turns
dangerous, when Annie discovers the body of a young woman
hanging in her new hay barn. Suddenly, she’s up to her
neck in complicated mysteries—one involving her private
life. But her sleuthing skills aren’t exactly welcome by
the sheriff. And as she uncovers a clue to the killer’s
identity, Annie fears she’s leading a deadly trail
straight to her door.
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