Connie Holt's Newest Case: He Trots the Air

At the beginning of He Trots the Air, Connie has a string of good fortune, leading her to believe that this year will be happy, vastly different from a year ago when she had to investigate the tragic deaths of three horses. For one thing, employer and friend Cary McCutcheon has acquired Darkling Lord, a Thoroughbred of dazzling pedigree, and plans to run him in the Gold Cup International Steeplechase in October. The colt will train at Fayence in Albemarle County, and Connie looks forward to visiting the horse often to watch his progress. Earlene Collins, who breeds Arabian horses, finds what could be an original Henry Stull (1851-1913) painting hidden in the attic of her pre-Civil War home. Busy with her work, Earlene asks Connie to find an art expert to work with the painting, a task Connie welcomes. And in Denver, where she meets with restorer Patrick Laurent, she reunites with a man whom she has never forgotten.

But on her return from Colorado, things turn dark and dangerous. No one but the reader knows that from the beginning of the novel, a plot has been underway to drug Cary's colt for reasons that have nothing to do with financial gain. Someone has hired three desperate people to commit the crime. Just thirteen days before the Gold Cup, Connie and Cary learn that something is going to happen to the horse. They start a relentless, time-starved investigation complicated by too few facts to go on, the continuing frustration of speculation without foundation, and the strong possibility that they won't be able to solve the puzzle and save Darkling Lord from harm. As both the conspirators and Connie and Cary move closer and closer to race day, tension and worry grow almost unbearable. The climax comes in front of the colt's stall on the day of the race--and no one is ready for what happens.

If you would like to read He Trots the Air, just click on Contact Me Directly (under the book cover to the left) to order an early autographed copy. I'll tell you how you can get it now, and at a substantially lower price than after June 15.

Introduction to Connie Holt, Continued

The Case of the Three Dead Horses starts during a November storm when the hilly roads in Central Virginia are covered with ice. At a breeding farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Connie Holt finds a prize stallion dead in his stall--and a dead man huddled in the corner. Connie suspects the horse was murdered but finds no evidence. Had the killer put the murder into motion only to be killed by his victim? Or was he himself a victim? Then two more horses die, and she must find the killer.

Tension and suspense mount as Connie moves closer to discovering the murderer's identity. Among the suspects are Rod Payson, a breeder whose wife's tragic death has plunged him into depression and financial ruin; Pres Carter, a vet who needs money to restore his ramshackle antebellum mansion; Tony Stephens, a mysterious northerner who presides over a fabulous estate but a touch-and-go horse venture; and Beau Taylor, a troubled stablehand. As she pursues the truth, Connie is helped by her boss, Cary McCutcheon, who shares her devotion to horses and their welfare.

But her investigation is complicated by her hopeless love for married vet, Jase Tyree, who cherishes their friendship but is consumed by problems with his faithless wife, and by Jake Wampler, a lustful state trooper who delights in harassing her on the road at night.

To Connie, the elements of the mystery are like "shards of colored glass with odd shapes." When at last she pieces them together, the completed mosaic reveals a horror she couldn't have foreseen.

More on Connie Holt: The Case of the Three Dead Horses

More on Connie Holt, as discovered in The Case of the Three Dead Horses. Connie is a former teacher from a rust-bucket city in the north, who comes to Virginia with her husband Mike, to whom she has been married since they were teenagers. He hopes to start a consulting business to help companies with their computer problems. But he fails again, and when Connie won't go with him to another city and another failure, he leaves her with a little money and a rundown truck. At a restaurant where Connie is working as a waitress (she's terrible at it), she meets customer Cary McCutcheon, presiding over a table of horse trainers and owners. He watches with kindly concern as the tall, thin woman with unruly red hair jugggles a large tray of hot beef and gravy sandwiches. There's something about her that appeals to him, and when she apologizes for her clumsiness, he offers her a job at the McCutcheon Equine Insurance Agency. She's successful as a receptionist but becomes fascinated with the investigators' jobs and soon asks Cary if he'll train her. By this time, he has come to admire her even more for her willingness to work hard. Overcoming the local prejudice against women in field work held by many of his male clients won't be easy. But eventually she wins them over by sheer persistence. Things are going quite well for Connie until horses start dying for no good reason. That is when The Case of the Three Dead Horses starts in earnest.

Tomorrow, a little about the plot of this first novel in the Connie Holt series.

Connie Holt Back with Another Mystery

I'm happy to say that my second Connie Holt mystery will be officially published June 15th of this year. Connie has put up with a lot of grief from me, first in The Case of the Three Dead Horses, and now in her newest adventure, He Trots the Air. And by the way, since the story is about the steeplechase this time, I think Shakespeare's lovely words about the joy of riding a horse fit the story very well: "When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk; he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it . . . "

Keep your eyes on this site, and you'll read more about Ms. Holt and her adventures as an equine insurance investigator. I'll also tell you how you can get the new book right now!