Cutter

It's a pity that Crum's earlier books seem to be out of print; as with any mystery series, you're always best advised to begin at the beginning, which is this one, followed by "Hoofprints." Amateur sleuths who are veterinarians are not unknown, and many literary sleuths interact with smaller animals like cats and dogs, but Crum has made horses the focus of her mystery, and in the process imparts a lot of information about them (though I question her assertion, or rather implication, that *all* horses eat wood; some do (they're called "cribbers"), but it's a habit of which they can be broken (if that weren't true, there would be few 19th-Century barns and stables still standing!)). She has clearly done her homework regarding horse-based eventing (cutting, endurance riding), and knows something of equines at work (her descriptions of cutting horses working cows verge on poetry). She also has a gift for humor--she had me giggling helplessly over her description of Lonny Peterson's kitten Gandalf. She's a bit slow getting started--it isn't till we're more than a third of the way through the book that the body is discovered and the detection actually gets under way--but once she does, the mystery unrolls with suitable red herrings, and the ultimate perpetrator isn't one I would have suspected. I'll be looking for further novels in this series.

Cutter was exciting, fast-paced and entertaining, and the equine details were accurate. Just what I was looking for to enliven a rainy evening. A great find for horse and mystery lovers.

this book kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. I wish she (Gail McCarthy) really existed. I hope to see more from Laura Crum in the near future!

I enjoyed this book by Laura Crum and look forward to readingthe others. The main character is very independent and the storyresolves around horses and a good mystery. Another favorite to add tomy list!

I just finished reading Cutter and truly enjoyed it. I am always looking for new mystery books and Laura Crum is terrific. The book was constantly moving and Gail is a wonderful character. This is my first time reading Laura Crum, but not the last. I hope Lonny, her boyfriend, will appear in another story. I enjoyed their relationship. This was definitely a fun book to read.