Triple Cross: A Steve Cline Mystery

Is all I can say. This author is supposed to be the next Dick Francis, and although I was doubtful, I now have to agree. The language is a bit salty for me, but it is a racetrack story, and at least you're not beat over the head with cursing. I've been to Churchill Downs, and the place is MAGIC. Kit Ehrman captures it completely, creating the whole racetrack establishment in your mind for the action to seat in--this is total immersion in the "backsiders" world, the most interesting place on a track. Louisville is also well represented here, and the excitement of big business and corporate espionage adds up to a thrilling story. I hated this book to end, hated leaving the world of Steve Cline and his foray into the Private Investigator business. Hated leaving the horses and the thrill of racing. I now have to go back and read Ehrman's other Steve Cline mysteries and hope they're as good as this one.

It's Derby Week in Louisville, Kentucky; Steve Cline is there as a favor to Chris Kessler, his father. Steve is also taking a class pursuant to a possible career as a P.I. In order to complete an assignment, he has to do some background checking on a stranger. He picks, for no real reason, Nicole Austin. This turns out to be a big mistake. Steve is mugged at a party he's been invited to by Rudy Sturgill, someone with money and clout. Nicole Austin disappears without a trace and her apartment is searched. When Steve continues to ask questions about her, he is threatened by yet another man with money and clout, the man his father works for. Cline doesn't back off, and events continue to go from bad to worse in the ever-increasing frenzy of Derby week. Ehrman has been compared, for obvious reasons, to Dick Francis. Francis, for the most part, wrote stand-alones, which gave him the luxury of not having to stretch in order to place his protagonist in a setting that could convincingly contain a murder. Ehrman, because this is a series, has to work at getting Steve into these situations; that work is not obvious. Each story has been plausible. Steve continues to grow as a character while the readers gets to learn more about horses and the various ways people can work in conjunction with them. TRIPLE CROSS is another well-written entry in Ehrman's series.

This is the best yet in this 4 (so far) book series. I was really caught up in the story, and stayed up most of the night to finish it. I tried to read slower, to make it last longer, but I just couldn't put it down! Won't go thru the plot; just read it for yourself! It's well worth it.

Twenty-three years old Maryland barn manager Steve Cline is working with his dad as they prepare their horse Gallant Storm for the Kentucky Derby. His father trainer Chris Kessler feels he has a solid shot of winning the most prestigious racing event and many pundits agree. Steve joins him in Louisville. However, Steve has plenty of idle time on his hands as the race is two weeks away and his time serving on the racing team is minor. To his credit he avoids race groupies as he remains faithful to his girlfriend Rachel. However, he fills his time studying from the mail order private investigator course he is enrolled in as he tries to make practical applications while hiding what he is doing from Rachel, who detests Steve's aspirations to become a sleuth. He soon finds himself in the middle of a real homicide of a woman whose relationships leave behind plenty of people with motive, means and opportunity. Steve is a roguish charmer who readers will like in his fourth appearance (see COLD BURN and DEAD MAN'S TOUCH) and the horse racing sequences especially the preparation for a race insightful and clearly a winner. However, the murder mystery track is muddy as some conclusions seem questionable. Still Dick Francis would enjoy racing with Steve as he tries to complete his correspondence class project without getting killed. Harriet Klausner