Sam and Sonora are called to the scene of Donna Delaney's shabby horse farm. On the premises is an old trailer occupied by Dixon Chauncey and his three children. Wimpy, wishy-washy Dixon cares for the horses for a reduction of rent and riding privileges.

Arriving home from his day job, Dixon discovers his daughter, Joelle, and a horse missing. A fence is down where a pickup and horse trailer had crashed through it, and nearby, Joelle's riding boot and a lot of blood are found.

Bloodhounds are called in to search for Joelle and she is found the next day buried on an adjacent farm. The horse is not discovered. Donna Delaney is strangely assaulted after someone administers a drug that leaves her unconscious and then surgically removes one finger. While Donna is in the hospital, Sonora snoops and finds that Donna lives under the threat of utility cutoffs in a state of near bankruptcy, yet seems to have lots of cash for luxury items.

Sonora and Sam have a hard time focusing on the motive of the murderer. It seems to make no sense to steal a horse while a fifteen-year-old child is riding it, but on the other hand if you are after the young girl, why take the horse? The mystery becomes more complicated when Donna's vet is revealed to be an undercover Thoroughbred Racing Commission investigator.

From the dialogue alone, one pegs Sonora as gutsy, bright, sassy and determined to hold her own in 'the old boys club' of homicide investigation. She is a less than perfect mother to children who are referenced a lot, but who are so poorly defined that they resemble paper cutouts. This story is event driven with Sonora as the driver.

Hightower is to be congratulated for a very ingenious plot with enough twists to keep even the most veteran mystery buff guessing. But I felt that I was also kept guessing about the principal characters. Clearly, this is not the first Sonora Blair mystery; many unexplained references are made to past cases that must have been subjects of books. This, coupled with the fact that the author clearly assumes the reader's knowledge of her characters, detracts from the enjoyment of this very fast-paced novel.

Had the editors required more character development and background for Sonora, Sam and their supervising sergeant, this story would have flowed better for a first time Hightower reader and would have elevated the book to more than an average read.

--Thea Davis