A Stone's Throw
An Ellie Stone Mystery
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Ellie Stone, a young newspaper reporter in 1960s' upstate New York, investigates a double murder at an abandoned stud farm near glamorous Saratoga Springs. August 1962. A suspicious fire claims a tumbledown foaling barn on the grounds of the once-proud Tempesta Stud Farm, halfway between New Holland and Saratoga Springs, NY. The blaze, one of several in recent years at the abandoned farm, barely prompts a shrug from the local sheriff. That is until "girl reporter" Ellie Stone, first on the scene, uncovers a singed length of racing silk in the rubble of the barn. And it's wrapped around the neck of one of two charred bodies buried in the ashes. A bullet between the eyes of one of the victims confirms it's murder, and the police suspect gamblers. Ellie digs deeper. The double murder, committed on a ghostly stud farm in the dead of night, leads Ellie down a haunted path, just a stone's throw from the glamour of Saratoga Springs, to a place where dangerous men don't like to lose. Unraveling secrets from the past--crushing failure and heartless betrayal--she's learning that arson can be cold revenge.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In Edgar-finalist Ziskin's suspenseful sixth mystery featuring newspaper reporter Ellie Stone (after 2017's Cast the First Stone), set in 1962, Ellie stumbles across two bodies, burned beyond recognition, while investigating a fire at an abandoned stud farm in upstate New York. Ellie's best friend, the bearish Ron "Fadge" Fiorello, becomes her expert guide to the sometimes seamy world of horse racing, and, armed with her newfound knowledge, Ellie digs up information that convinces her the victims are jockey Johnny Dornan and his "date of the evening," Micheline Charbonneau. She subsequently learns that Johnny, who threw a horse race nine years earlier, ended up on the wrong side of the mob. The carefully constructed plot unfolds in unexpected ways as tough, ambitious, and dogged Ellie follows clues in the horse-racing mecca of nearby Saratoga Springs. Ziskin keeps readers guessing every step of the way.
