Chasing Cans
A
Gail McCarthy Mystery
Laura
Crum
Perseverance Press (Trade
Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-880284-94-4 (1880284944)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-94-0 (9781880284940)
Publication Date: March 2008
List Price: $14.95
Synopsis (from the publisher): Chasing cans is rodeo slang for barrel racing, a competition that can bring its winners fame and big bucks. To Gail McCarthy, a horse vet turned stay-at-home mom, chasing cans also stands for the ambitious pursuit of empty career goals at the expense of personal and family tranquility. While Gail is wrestling with this question in her own life, she witnesses a mystifying riding accident that kills a neighbor, a barrel-racing trainer. Whether it’s her veterinarian’s integrity or just stubborn curiosity, Gail’s unofficial investigation into strange happenings at the ranch could make her the object of a chase that might cost her own life.
Review:
Chasing Cans
is the tenth mystery in this series by Laura Crum to feature horse
veterinarian Gail McCarthy who investigates the accidental death of a
neighbor that might have been anything but.
Gail is a new mother; her son, Mac, is just a year old and is the joy
of her life. Though she misses spending time with her horses, she's
knows they're nearby in a pasture leased from an old friend. But when
she learns that a new neighbor, Lindee Stone, has leased the pasture
and demands Gail remove her horses, she's angry. Storming out to
confront Lindee at her stables, she arrives just in time to see Lindee,
a professional trainer of rodeo horses, fall from her mount. To Gail's
horror, the horse topples over as well, falling on Lindee, killing her.
Though almost certainly a tragic accident, Gail isn't so sure. Lindee
was one of the best in the business and a fall like she witnessed
seemed improbable. Gail's suspicions are aroused further when another
trainer is badly injured the next day, thrown from the horse she was
riding and subsequently kicked in the head. As Gail probes into
Lindee's background, she discovers no shortage of people who might want
to see her dead. But there's no evidence that she was murdered.
The books in this series have been as much character studies as
mysteries, and Chasing
Cans is no different. Gail waxes poetic on motherhood in
general, and on being a mother to her son in particular, sometimes to
excess. But these musings serve a purpose. She's reluctant to get
involved in Lindee's death fearing it might interfere with taking care
of Mac, yet the appeal to solve the puzzle is simply too alluring. If
the accident was caused intentionally, how was it done? And was the
intent to scare Lindee or to kill her?
The setting for Chasing
Cans covers a few acres at most, yet the author conveys a
sense of grandness of the region. Some of the best moments in the book
are when Gail spends time exploring the area, communing with nature.
Still, it is a mystery and Gail works through how the accident may have
been caused but never reasons out the who and why until confronted by
the culprit. In this regard, it's a bit disappointing that it wasn't
more of a challenge for her. And though the book opens with a prologue
that is oddly philosophical (chasing cans being a metaphor for life),
it ends with a poignant epilogue that is a fitting conclusion to the
story.
Special thanks to Perseverance Press for providing a copy of Chasing Cans for this review.
Review Copyright © 2008 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved.
Mysteries in this series ...
Cutter
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), July 1994
ISBN-10: 0-312-10960-1 (0312109601)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-10960-8 (9780312109608)
Hoofprints
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), January 1996
ISBN-10: 0-312-13983-7 (0312139837)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-13983-4 (9780312139834)
Roughstock
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), August 1997
ISBN-10: 0-312-15643-X (031215643X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-15643-5 (9780312156435)
Roped
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), September 1998
ISBN-10: 0-312-19325-4 (0312193254)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-19325-6 (9780312193256)
Slickrock
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), October 1999
ISBN-10: 0-312-20910-X (031220910X)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20910-0 (9780312209100)
Breakaway
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), July 2001
ISBN-10: 0-312-27181-6 (0312271816)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-27181-7 (9780312271817)
Hayburner
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), January 2003
ISBN-10: 0-312-29047-0 (0312290470)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-29047-4 (9780312290474)
Forged
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), June 2004
ISBN-10: 0-312-32327-1 (0312323271)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-32327-1 (9780312323271)
Moonblind
Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback), September 2006
ISBN-10: 1-880284-90-1 (1880284901)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-90-2 (9781880284902)
Chasing Cans
Perseverance Press (Trade Paperback), March 2008
ISBN-10: 1-880284-94-4 (1880284944)
ISBN-13: 978-1-880284-94-0 (9781880284940)
Omnimystery keywords for Chasing Cans ...
Location(s) referenced: Santa Cruz, California.