Dismount and Murder

The owner of a wealthy estate is found dead of a heart attack after his morning horseback ride.  But his son suspects murder.  Is it his young stepmother?  His jealous wife?  The ne'er do well stable groom?  The trusted lawyer?  Or did the butler do it?

Juliet Van Allen and Elmer Vartanian, casual partners in the business of ferreting out murderers, take us to the cool, green hills of Litchfield, Connecticut, in the summer of 1950.  It is the eve of the annual horse show, and with the mansion full of glittering guests at the opening ball, the estate is full of suspects.

Dismount and Murder is the third book in the Double V Mysteries series set in New England in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

If you like the romance and charm of a classic film, this "cozy noir" will remind you of an era when character-driven stories were elegant, subtle—and where greed rears its ugly head over a silver tray of hors d'oeuvres in a ballroom of intrigue or under a caterer's tent on the lawn, while sipping a champagne cocktail.

It's murder among the horsey set as the pace quickens and there's danger in the paddock for sleuths who don't listen to warnings.