DI Les de Freitas and Sergeant Will McCulloch feature in this intriguing caper story, with a GREY MOTIVE. A caper is a theft, so the lack of a murder to solve removes immediacy and violence from the scene. Of course, matters could go seriously wrong for those caught up in the situation. This mystery is a character study based on horse racing. 

Joy Reid has worked in Brookhills, a bookmaker’s shop in the south of England, for years, and when a theft from the floor safe is discovered, she’s senior enough to have had access. But who of the small number of suspects would take forty thousand pounds, knowing they could not spend or bank it? At first, Joy tells her husband Paul the truth but pretends to the kids that she is on leave. Then the police arrive to search the house.

Joy’s son Jack is fed up with school and not learning anything. He gets the chance to join a Racing Futures programme, something like being an army cadet to keep him out of trouble. He works with Chris and Terry at their racehorse training and dealing yard at Sainte Bastien. This duo has just realised what a cracking good colt has come their way, a grey they name Grey Motive. They think he’s a serious Derby candidate, maybe good enough to win a Triple Crown. The shine can’t help but rub off on young Jack, who isn’t ambitious but starts to love racing.  

Jack’s older sister Mandy is obsessed with film production school and works towards getting a college place. She’s one of the admirable characters (though an annoying teenager) as she strives towards her opportunity. But college will cost her parents money and rent in a London apartment – is this a motive for theft? Other suspects include Maud Simmons, Anita Wallis, Lee Baxter, who do nothing unremarkable. But they are all under suspicion and going to stay that way unless the culprit can be caught. I find the story suitable for teens or adults.

Author Lissa Oliver has thought carefully about the implications and consequences of store theft, leaving all staff in a bad position while potentially unemployable. The Racing Authority also keeps an eye on Grey Motive, whose ownership is turned to a syndication to pay for his entry fees. Is this a way to squander illicit gains? Could betting wins be used to hide a source of income? The story covers months of the colt’s career, so we see his first races, and the hopes and dreams that ride with him.

GREY MOTIVE feels deeply involved with admin-heavy modern racing, and the wider society affected by crime.