First published 1981
Chief Inspector Peter McGarr faces a baffling case when elderly Margaret Caughey turns up dead during Dublin's celebrated Horse Show. The victim appears harmless enough, but her apartment holds no clues to her past. McGarr discovers that nearly everyone connected to Margaret has ties to the equestrian event. Her brother frequents the racetrack. Her daughter, surprisingly refined despite Margaret's plain appearance, plans to compete in the show. Most troubling of all, an ex-IRA contract killer lurks somewhere in the web of suspects. As the competition draws near, McGarr races against time to solve the murder. The detective knows that failure could mean more deaths before the horses finish their runs. The case pulls him deeper into Dublin's racing world, where old secrets and new violence threaten to explode during the city's most treasured annual tradition.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-detective, race-against-time
Setting: Dublin, Ireland
Period: 20th-century
192 pages · Hardcover · Hale