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HORSE VET’S LIFE TAKES A NEW TURN
Dr. Gail McCarthy must deal with her seven-months’ pregnancy, her beloved horse’s illness, and her cousin’s life-threatening problems: Jenny, a Thoroughbred trainer, is being stalked by her past.
“Crum’s diverting ninth equestrian mystery. . . is a credible look at the high stakes world of horse breeding and training.” —Publishers Weekly (July 31, 2006)
In this ninth book in the Gail McCarthy series, Gail is pregnant and taking a leave of absence from her work as a horse vet. Despite her intention to rest and prepare for her baby, she is drawn into the odd situation surrounding her cousin Jenny, who claims she is being stalked. Jenny hints at nefarious dealings in her past as a racehorse trainer that may return to haunt her, and accidents seem to happen with astonishing frequency at her Thoroughbred lay-up farm. As Jenny’s only relative and friend in the area, Gail feels the need to support and help her cousin, but can hardly sort out truth from fiction as she tries to discover who the stalker might be: Jenny’s ex-husband, her former lover, his wife, or an unscrupulous player on the racetrack scene? Gail finds herself confused and frustrated, while she struggles at the same time to solve a medical mystery involving one of her own horses. As the accidents become more serious, Gail’s concern becomes desperate and personal, leading her to a dark confrontation where she must use all her wits to survive. As in all the books in the series, Moonblind contains much accurate detail about horses (Thoroughbreds as well as Quarter Horses here) and the people who love them—a winning combination of a truly gripping story and a big life change for the popular protagonist.
The denouements of Laura Crum’s books often involve a thrilling horseback chase. With Gail in advanced pregnancy and neither practicing her veterinary skills nor riding at all, the author has cun-ningly fashioned a no-less-suspenseful finish. As a bonus to readers, the designer of Moonblind has placed a tiny image of a horse in various gaits on the upper, outer corner of each page. When riffled by the reader’s thumb, they produce a flipbook effect of a running horse: a true “running head,” so to speak.
Laura Crum, a fourth-generation Santa Cruz County resident, has owned and trained horses for over thirty years. She lives in the hills near California’s Monterey Bay with her family and a large menagerie. Crum has written nine books about Santa Cruz equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy.
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