Tacked to Death

This book by Michele Scott is so amazingly well written. The charecters were full of depth and made you want to meet them, or hate them, depending on her intention for their personality. The plot kept you guessing the whole time and you never wanted to put the book down. I highly reccomend this book to any animal lover, or even just a mystery lover. This is just the first book in the series of three, you have to read all three books of this fantastic mystery series. Overall, a great read.

Michaela "Mick" Bancroft will be glad when the charity event is over. Between playing polo, helping her partner set up the fashion show, and opening their new shop, Mick hasn't had much time to give riding lessons to autistic and special needs kids she so enjoys. She is called on to help diffuse the situation when the caterers complain and threaten not to follow the prescribed menu for the event. Then Mick finds Sterling Taber, an irritating playboy dubbed as the most eligible bachelor in the fashion show, murdered with Mick's polo mallet. Unfortunately Jude Davis, Mick's boyfriend and police detective, is away on a cruise with his daughter. So Michaela sets out to find the killer to clear her name. But can she do that without putting herself in danger? This is one of my all-time favorite cozy series. Michaela is such a wonderful character. I am not a horse lover, but this series makes me want to hop on a horse and ride off in the sunset! The author does a great job of creating red herrings and hiding the true identity of the killer. The only bad thing is that the books in this series are so enjoyable and such quick reads that soon I've finished and have to wait another year for the next one! Write faster! I highly recommend this book.

Michaela (Mick) Bancroft's big charity event is causing more headaches than she expected - and not from the polo mallets that she's been dodging on the field. While polo is a new (and difficult) sport for her, not to mention painful, most of her aggravation is coming from setting up for the fashion show that follows! The caterers are complaining and threatening not to follow the menu the rich donors are expecting, and the make-up artist is five seconds from walking out the door after an incident with local playboy Sterling Taber - the man who also happens to be voted Most Eligible Bachelor for the fashion show. After putting out the flames, Mick's ready to toss her polo mallet at the next person who looks at her cross-eyed - until someone does it for her... All Mick wants is to run her farm, take care of her horses, and teach her kids - the autistic and special needs children who come to her for lessons. She's somewhat serious about her detective boyfriend Jude Davis, but still isn't sure about that final step. When, during the fashion show, Michaela stumbles over the body of her less than favorite person Sterling, she becomes suspect number one in his murder. With Jude on a cruise with his daughter, Mick decides that she must prove her own innocence since the police do not seem inclined to look beyond proof of the murder weapon - Michaela's own polo mallet. Having been so generous with her own time and friendship in the past, Mick's friends are more than willing to help her with her own problems, despite the questionable legalities of some of techniques. And while these antics seem to take their toll on Mick's relationship with Jude, they seem to be working on bringing the truth to bear - but will Mick be alive to see justice served? This is a great cozy in the horse-lovers series - a definite animal-lover's series. Michaela has a lot of common sense despite managing to talk herself out of it quite often, and a large heart. I regret having missed the second book in the series but hope to remedy that shortly, however; the book can stand by itself with the information included. Cozy readers will love to curl up with this one, but I personally think Mick needs more time with her horses!

Michaela is so good to all her friends, that when she needs help they rally around her. This mystery she couldn't have solved alone. The good news is she ends up with an unexpected surprise at the end of the book. One that finally pays her back for all her loving kindness!

This third book in the Horse Lovers Mysteries takes the reader into the polo ring where money, greed and treachery lead to murder and our heroine, Michaela Bancroft is right in the thick of it. The murder weapon points to her and she is in big trouble. I had a great time reading it and would recommend it to mystery lovers who also like a bit of spicy romance with their mayhem. It would make great gifts for your friends!