A Racing Murder (The Ham Hill Murder Mysteries, #2)
by Frances EveshamSetting: England
Genres: Mystery & Detective
Source: Book Tour
The next thrilling Ham-Hill Murder Mystery from bestselling cosy crime author Frances Evesham.
A winning horse. A fierce rivalry. A sudden death.
Belinda Sandford thrills to the cheers of the crowd as her beautiful grey racehorse, ‘Butterfly Charm’, thunders past the finishing post first at Wincanton Racecourse. She feels like the luckiest girl in the world.
But joy soon turns to despair as a stewards’ enquiry overturns the result and awards the race to her long-time rival, Alexandra Deacon.
When Alex is found dead in suspicious circumstances, a host of accusing eyes turn to Belinda and her distraught mother begs Adam Hennessy, her neighbour, retired police officer and publican, to help clear her daughter’s name.
As Adam, and local hotelier Imogen Bishop, dig deep into the murky and powerful undercurrents of the horse racing world, they lay bare the lives and loves of local jockeys, grooms, trainers and owners.
They soon uncover a web of secrets hidden within the spectacular Somerset countryside as they strive to find the killer in time to prevent more murders.
A brand new cosy mystery series from the bestselling author of A Village Murder, perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Betty Rowlands and M.C. Beaton.
I’m not generally a cozy mystery fan but I was drawn to this book because of the racing setting. I love Dick Francis’s books. This book doesn’t dive so deeply into the racing world. It focuses on a group of friends in a small town in England. The local pub owner is a retired police detective. He was asked to help clear the name of a young jockey when her rival was murdered.
He enlists the help of the hotel owner across the road, a local journalist, and a painter who has been hired to do portraits of some racehorses. Together they look into the crime when the police are going to treat it as an accidental death.
I liked the fact that they acknowledged that they aren’t the best detectives. Every time they try to covertly question someone they end up pretty much blowing their cover. They just aren’t good at being sneaky.
I also appreciated that the group includes male and female friendships that aren’t looking to move into romantic relationships. You don’t see enough of that in fiction.
This is the second book of the series but you don’t need to read the first in order to understand this one. The background information is well incorporated.
Author Bio:
Frances Evesham is the bestelling author of the hugely successful Exham-on-Sea murder mysteries set in her home county of Somerset, and the Ham-Hill cosy crime series set in South Somerset.
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Book tour through Rachel’s Random Resources
