The Dirt-Brown Derby

Ed Lynskey
Mundania Press (2006)
ISBN 1594262322
Reviewed by Brad Phelps (age 16) for Reader Views (4/07)

In this mystery novel the author tells of a freak horse-riding accident that could've been a murder. The story is told by PI Frank Johnson who has been assigned to the case.

Johnson is summoned to the small, quiet town of Kaiser, VA, by a wealthy woman named Mary Taliaferro. Her daughter was killed from a horse trampling her head, or at least that's what it looks like. Mrs. Taliaferro thinks different, she believes someone staged the death and her 15-year-old daughter was actually murdered.

As soon as Johnson arrived at the horse estate, things seemed weird, and not a day after he got there the estate's horse trainer was shot and killed. With no help from the sheriff, Johnson has trouble finding leads. He soon discovers that Kaiser is a dirty little town, filled with druggies, bums, and alcoholics.

Johnson finally comes to some conclusions after countless "distractions" and tracks down the killer along with a couple rapists.

This book is a great read. It has a good plot and the author was great at keeping the suspense gong. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery novels. I think it was a good idea to combine a sophisticated thing like horse-racing with a cold-blood murder case.

A tragic event has come upon the Taliaferro estate. Could a teenage girl's horse-riding accident actually be murder? Now it's up to PI Frank Johnson to dig up the truth, even if it kills him. Find out what happens in "The Dirt-Brown Derby."

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