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Ron Miller's DARK CORRIDORS VOL. 7, No. 20 |
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Crum's detective heroine
turns a major corner
of TheColumnists.com
So far, the most pleasant surprise of the summer has been the arrival of a package from Perseverance Press with an unexpected treat inside: A review copy of "Moonblind," the latest mystery by Laura Crum about veterinarian sleuth Dr. Gail McCarthy.
The last time I checked with Crum, she had just about completed her latest in the McCarthy series, but had lost her publishing deal and had no idea if her new novel would ever see print. That made me very blue because the McCarthy books are among my very favorite contemporary mysteries and Laura Crum is, for my money, the successor to retired mystery giant Dick Francis.
"Moonblind" will be published in September, but you can reserve a copy now through www.amazon.com, the reliable online seller of books, videos and lots of other interesting things.
If you haven't discovered Laura Crum yet, please jump at any chance to catch up on the series, which began with "Cutter," first of her nine novels about Dr. McCarthy, who specializes in treating horses at a large animal clinic in California's Santa Cruz County, but somehow seems to wind up solving murders while diagnosing ailments of the equine variety.
For most of the series, Dr. McCarthy has been a single woman, living alone on her rural ranch property with horses, dogs and quite a few other animals. But in "Forged," the previous number in the series, she had decided to finally marry her most recent suitor, Blue Winter. In "Moonblind," we find them happily married and Gail expecting their first child. With her pregnancy well-advanced, she's on a leave of absence from the clinic and has even been replaced by a smart and pretty young vet.
Though she has plenty to do making preparations for the baby, Gail is drawn into the turbulent life of her cousin Jenny, a wealthy trainer of thoroughbreds, who is being stalked by someone. Is it her angry ex-husband or maybe the vengeful ex-wife he dumped for Jenny? What about the nefarious race track characters both Jenny and her former husband were mixed up with in the past?
Whoever is coming after Jenny, Gail has to take it seriously because Jenny's dog is poisoned and there's growing evidence that someone is trying to do serious damage to some of the incredibly valuable race horses Jenny is taking care of at her large training facility in Santa Cruz County.
Crum's mysteries are cleverly worked out and deftly written, painlessly enriching the reader's knowledge of the horse world that Crum herself knows so well. Gail is no "superwoman" sleuth, but a bright and curious person whose involvement in what sometimes turn out to be extremely serious crimes is always completely credible.
Because Crum's setting is the county where I grew up and lived much of my adult life, I can attest to the fact that her books are completely authentic as to place and time and always written in the most professional manner.
The new novel is a large format trade paperback edition that will cost you about $14, probably even less if you buy online.
I'm delighted that the McCarthy series hasn't come to an end. Though Crum doesn't travel to promote her novels and sales have not been big, she is the favorite of many writers and critics. This is a discouraging time in the book publishing world with many publishing houses either folding or dropping their steady and reliable authors in favor of those who produce nothing but major best-sellers. That's why it's all the more exciting that Crum has found a way to keep her fine novels coming.
©2006 by Ron Miller.
The book cover reproduction is courtesy of Perseverance Press.
The cover design is by Peter Thorpe. This column first posted
June 5, 2006.
Ron
Miller is a former nationally syndicated television columnist
and the author of "Mystery! A Celebration," the official
companion book to PBS' "Mystery!" series. He currently
writes about television mysteries for MYSTERY SCENE magazine.
You can comment on this column online. Please address your message to either "The Editors" or Ron Miller. To send an email, click here and don't forget to mention Ron's name: talkback@thecolumnists.com
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