Blood Reins
A Detective Sandra Cameron Mystery
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Working with her beloved quarter stallion Buster Brown at a horse show competition, Detective Sandra Cameron begins to recover from the shooting that took her partner's life, and nearly her own. Her hard-won peace of mind, however, is shattered by the death of Chet Gundry, a world-renowned "horse whisperer," ladies' man, diabetic, and dear friend. Chet was a superstar in the equestrian universe, until someone spiked his insulin vial and reined him in, permanently. When Sandy discovers that her colleague Burbank detective Tom Rigby considers her a prime suspect in Chet's murder, her emotional and spiritual recovery is shaken to the core.
A second murder of an equestrian insider forces Sandy back on track. Putting aside their now shaky relationship, Sandy and Tom must pool their resources in order to stop a killer who will kill again, and again, to cover up a federal crime that would blow the lid off the equestrian industry.
Set against a dazzling Southern California milieu of high-dollar quarter horse shows, world-class stallions, and breeders with enormous egos, Blood Reins is a fast-paced police procedural that explores a deadly arena where the crowning of champions can provoke murderous consequences.
"Joens successfully mines the world of California horse breeding." - Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joens successfully mines the world of California horse breeding in the follow-up to his debut, An Animated Death in Burbank (2004), which examined the cartoon industry. LAPD Det. Sandra Cameron is on leave, recuperating from the psychological effects of a near-fatal gun-shot wound, when her horse trainer and former lover, Chet Gundry, drops dead. Coincidentally, her current significant other, L.A. Sheriff's Department detective Tom Rigby, catches the case after the lab discovers that someone substituted a horse tranquilizer for Chet's insulin. Sandy straddles several uncomfortable roles as suspect, witness and investigator, leading to tension with Tom. Two more deaths follow, which narrow the pool of suspects and complicate the mystery. Sandy's initially passive role makes for a slow start, but the book eventually picks up steam and attains a decent fair-play resolution.
