by Kit Ehrman
Poisoned Pen Press, October 2002
299 pages, $24.95
ISBN: 1590580362
Steve Cline series #1
Stephen Cline, at the age of 21, manages a Maryland stable, Foxdale Farm, and avoids his controlling cardiovascular surgeon father, who is pushing him to go back to college, as much as possible. Steve is good at his job, having spent his summers on dude ranches as he was growing up. He has even managed to help Mrs. Hill, the farm manager, to show a profit rather than a loss for the first time since Foxdale opened.
At 3 a.m. on a bitter cold morning, Steve drives over to the stable to medicate one of the horses. He finds a pickup and a horse trailer sitting in the dark. Steve knows there is something wrong and heads for the pay phone to call the police. But before he can do that, he is slammed in the head and held at gunpoint by three masked men. He gets beaten severely and awakens to find himself tied up in the horse trailer with seven of the stable's horses. He knows that the thieves will kill him and manages to escape. A week later, after endless police interviews, pain, and nightmares, Steve is back on the job.
Detective James Ralston of the Maryland State Police, drops by Foxdale to interview Steve and lets it drop that this has happened before in another county--seven horses stolen and the owner found murdered. The man's wrists had also been tied up with baling twine and severely beaten prior to his death. Steve realizes that his own life may be in danger and decides to investigate by advertising for any information on the horse trailer.
But Steve still his own job to do and that means dealing with some real characters--Mrs. Elsa Timbrook, a hot-to-trot blonde with her eye on Steve; Mr. Sanders, a hot-tempered owner who is no stranger to stolen horses; Mr. Whitcombe, a trainer who likes to make trouble; Brian, a stable worker with a bad attitude; and Mr. Harrison, a farmer trying to rip Foxdale off with his underweight hay deliveries.
Detective Ralston engages Steve's help in trying to identify the make and model of the horse trailer while Steve pursues his own inquiries into the matter. Steve knows he must be getting close to the truth when Foxdale suffers a streak of vandalism. Steve also manages to connect events to a third robbery that had happened two years earlier. Detective Ralston warns Steve that he might be getting too close to the truth but Steve is determined to find the men behind the vandalism, robberies, and murder.
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