Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Reining in Murder
    Unavailable
    Reining in Murder
    Unavailable
    Reining in Murder
    Ebook415 pages7 hours

    Reining in Murder

    By Leigh Hearon

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    This debut of a mystery series starring a sleuthing horse trainer is “a winner right out of the gate” (Fern Michaels, #1 New York Times–bestselling author).
     
    When horse trainer Annie Carson rescues a beautiful thoroughbred from a roadside rollover, she knows the horse is lucky to be alive . . . unlike the driver. After rehabilitating the injured animal at her Carson Stables ranch, Annie delivers the horse to Hilda Colbert—the thoroughbred’s neurotic and controlling owner—only to find she’s been permanently put out to pasture.
     
    Two deaths in three days is unheard of in the small Olympic Peninsula county, and Annie decides to start sniffing around. She’s confident she can track down a killer . . . but she may not know how ruthless this killer really is . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKensington Books
    Release dateApr 1, 2016
    ISBN9781496700346
    Unavailable
    Reining in Murder
    Author

    Leigh Hearon

    Leigh Hearon began her own P.I. agency, Leigh Hearon Investigative Services, in 1992. Her cases have appeared on In the Dead of Night, Forensic Files, 48 Hours, Court TV, City Confidential, Unsolved Mysteries, America’s Most Wanted, and CBS Evening News with Connie Chung. Hearon was an avid rider of horses throughout her childhood. She currently has a Saddlebred mare, Jolie Jeune Femme, and a rescue Thoroughbred, Edward, and enjoys watching them cavort on a fifty-five-acre farm she shares with her husband. Visit her on the Web at leighhearon.com.

    Related authors

    Related to Reining in Murder

    Titles in the series (2)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Cozy Mysteries For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Speedboat

      Mar 24, 2022

      Nobody died that year. Nobody prospered. There were no births or marriages. Seventeen reverent satires were written – disrupting a cliché and, presumably, creating a genre. That was a dream, of course, but many of the most important things, I fi nd,

      14 min read

    • Article

      Getting In The Holiday Spirit

      Nov 2, 2023

      Getting In The Holiday Spirit
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dark Side Of Buffy

      Mar 24, 2022

      Dark Side Of Buffy
      2 min read

    • Article

      I Helped Jail An Evil Rapist

      Oct 20, 2021

      Ashlea Page, 28, Sydney, NSW Stuffing clothes into my bag, I carefully tiptoed out the front door. Mum and Dad are going to be so mad when they find out, I thought. Aged 16, I had a good relationship with my parents, but I just didn’t like followi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right

      Jun 12, 2020

      Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right
      2 min read

    • Article

      Coming Soon...

      Dec 15, 2020

      David Tennant stars as Phileas Fogg in this new adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel. Phileas is joined on his voyage by sidekick Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) and journalist Abigail Fix (Leonie Benesch).  The cookery show returned earlier this year afte

      1 min read

    • Article

      Cherubs

      Jul 5, 2023

      Cherubs
      10 min read

    • Article

      Are You Lonesome Tonight?

      Aug 8, 2019

      Are You Lonesome Tonight?
      6 min read

    • Article

      Twister Time In Todmorden

      Feb 22, 2024

      Late on the night of 27 December 2023 my mind drifted back to the post-Christmas days of 43 years earlier in the dark of Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, about to interrupt my life 270 miles away. To this day it remains one of the most famous close encoun

      5 min read

    • Article

      It Happened to Me…

      Sep 7, 2023

      It Happened to Me…
      8 min read

    • Article

      It Happened to Me…

      Feb 25, 2021

      My sister and I have always been fans of spooky and unnerving stories, and particularly those associated with Devon and Dartmoor, our favourite holiday destination as kids. We both, therefore, knew the ‘Devil’s Hoofprints’ story better than any other

      4 min read

    • Article

      HUNTING With The Ellements…

      Sep 13, 2021

      HUNTING With The Ellements…
      19 min read

    • Article

      The Great Escape

      Mar 21, 2024

      The Great Escape
      5 min read

    • Article

      Stand And Deliver

      Jan 2, 2020

      OUR closest neighbours live in a house called Top Parts, up the hill through the woods. It’s about 500 yards as the crow flies, but quite steep and there’s no particular path. The lower part of the wood lies in the bowl of the hill, a tangle of ash s

      2 min read

    • Article

      Change of Direction

      Jan 24, 2020

      Change of Direction
      6 min read

    • Article

      Boss hen

      Sep 14, 2020

      Boss hen
      7 min read

    • Article

      Invisible World

      Nov 25, 2023

      Invisible World
      3 min read

    Reviews for Reining in Murder

    3.5/5

    21 ratings6 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I enjoy a good cozy mystery and that is just what this book is. With Annie Carson and her equine, canine, feline and human friends to support her she decides to sleuth a bit when she thinks the local constabulary are not doing their jobs and just trying to quickly solve a murder or two. Annie is intrepid, loves her animals, works in equine rescue and is an intriguing character. I like the fact that she raises sheep for their wool but does not eat her own animals. The supporting characters provided interest, humor, depth and friendship while further explaining Annie and who she is. They also provide fodder for future interactions in the series.I have enjoyed reading horse stories from childhood although horses and I do not see eye to eye – they are alpha to my lesser status and treat me as such. My sister was the horse enthusiast and knows more about horses than I ever will. My lack of knowledge of all equine technical terms did not impact my enjoyment of this story and I look forward to reading many more books in this series.Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the copy of this ARC to read and review.
    • 3/5
      Reining in Murder by Leigh Hearon is the first book in A Carson Stables Mystery series. Annie Carson is a horse rescuer in Suwana County, Washington. She receives a call during the night from Sheriff Dan Stetson. A man was in an accident, and he was hauling a horse. The horse needs to be brought back to Carson Farm. The man who was driving, Wayne Johnston, did not survive. The horse was okay and only suffered minor injuries. Unfortunately, the gorgeous horse belongs to Hilda Colbert of Colbert Farm. Hilda has a nasty personality. Hilda contacts Annie after she has been up all night caring for her horse, demanding that the horse be transported to her farm immediately (indicating that her farm is far superior). When Annie insists that the horse cannot be moved yet, Hilda states that they will pick up the horse first thing the next day. The next day no one shows or calls. When Annie goes over to Colbert Farm (the next day), she finds Hilda dead in her bedroom. The suspect list is long (since Hilda did not have a winning personality). Sheriff Stetson’s number one suspect is Marcus Carson, Hilda’s husband (feel sorry for him—being married to Hilda). Annie is not so sure. Annie starts investigating (while keeping Dan filled in—sort of) and then Marcus disappears. Annie is sure that foul play is involved, but Dan feels that Marcus took off. Then one of the Colbert Farm ranch hands is missing. People are dropping like flies. What is going on? Not only is Annie investigating Hilda’s murder, but her half-sister Lavender has decided to visit (they have never met). Lavender is a quirky individual who believes that she has psychic powers (Lavender was spoiled by her parents). Life is never dull at the Carson Farm. Reining in Murder is an easy to read cozy mystery novel. I just wish more of the book had been devoted to the mystery. The clues are very sparse (more show up just before the killer is revealed). More time is devoted to Lavender and her antics than to the mystery. We also get quite a bit of information about horses, mules, dogs, Annie’s eating habits, Sheriff Stetson’s marriage troubles, and the type of scotch Annie (and Dan Stetson) like to drink. I give Reining in Murder 3 out of 5 stars. I wish the mystery had been harder to figure out. You would think there would be a lot of suspects (since Hilda was not liked by anyone but her husband), but, in reality, there are few of them provided in the book. As soon as Annie found the body, I knew who killed her (you know who is going to be killed as soon as she is mentioned in the book). I did like the main characters and the gorgeous setting. I will read the next book in the series.I received a complimentary copy of Reining in Murder from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest evaluation of the novel.
    • 3/5
      Reining in Murder raised some decidedly mixed emotions in me as I read. Leigh Hearon has created a good, solid mystery, and all the scenes concerning horses and dogs are excellent. The author also created a very intriguing pairing of characters with the elderly Martha and Annie's irritating sister Lavender. These are all good bits that I really appreciated. However, I think your enjoyment of the book is going to hinge on your perception of the main character, Annie Carson. Mine certainly did. Annie is 43 years old, but her emotional behavior makes her appear much, much younger. She gets on her high horse a lot over others' behavior towards her or their tones of voice. She also does something that drives me nuts: she sits on evidence. She finds vital clues and then does nothing with them. Eventually she has a guilty moment and calls the sheriff to tell him what she's found, but if the sheriff doesn't use the right tone of voice, or if he's not sweet as sugar to her, she gets huffy and the phone call turns into a hangup. One of the main reasons why Annie gets involved in the investigation is because she gets a good look at the handsome husband of the dead woman, becomes starry-eyed, and decides he's being unjustly accused. More teenage behavior, and I found this all a bit difficult to accept from a woman in her forties. Fortunately Annie begins to snap out of it in the last third of the book, and that saved this entire review. Hearon has written a good mystery that animal lovers should enjoy a great deal. Hopefully Annie Carson will have an even higher emotional IQ in the next book in the series.
    • 4/5
      Nice beginning to the series, Annie Carson runs a horse rescue. Interesting people, interesting setting, but where does she get her money?
    • 4/5
      I guess the "girls in love with horses" thing is a cliché, but clichés are clichés because they're true. I was obsessed when I was a child, and still suffer from a nostalgic longing to go take riding lessons again. Basically what this means for me now is that when a book comes my way in which horses feature prominently, I'm all over it. If I see it on Netgalley, I'm requesting it – and only afterward will the realization come along that this could be a major mistake. Horses + cozy mystery could have been awful.Fortunately, it wasn't. Of course there were a couple of nitpicks; it is mentioned a dog's breath "reeking of meat and onion", when according to my vet onions are poisonous for dogs. And the genders of a litter of puppies got somewhat confused. And Annie does at one point forget to tell someone something extremely important which … well, it stretched my credulity a bit that she would forget it. It's a trope I loathe – "Oh, well, I'll tell him next time I see him" – and then one or the other person involved dies, or whatever it is becomes otherwise irrelevant. This sort of string of complaints would normally indicate a book I was not happy with – the fact that I did enjoy the book in spite of quibbles is testament to other good qualities.Annie Carson has nearly the life I'd ask for, working with horses and seeing more animals than humans. She doesn't like children – I don't like children. She loves horses – I love horses. The writing is smart and fun. The plot is engaging and doesn't strain credulity. I think I'll like this series. The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review.
    • 4/5
      I liked that the protagonist is a bit ornery, as well as single and middle-aged. Makes her personality stand out amongst so many of the amateur detectives in cozies. Lots of detail about caring for and training horses.