In the second book in the Happy Hollow Stables Cozy Mystery Series titled Kill them with Kindness, Holly Bridges is struggling with a Houdini gelding named Ricochet and a vomiting cat called Rufus.  Having not yet lined up a vet for her riding stables, Holly heads into town with a very disgruntled cat, determined to find him a vet – and fix the vomiting problem.

Dr. Teal doesn’t come with high recommendations.  Apparently her people skills are a little lacking.  Holly doesn’t feel this is an issue, as long as she is an animal person.  Unfortunately it seems she isn’t much of an animal lover, either.  With some persistence from Holly the crotchety old woman agrees to put the cat on antibiotics.  And so ends Holly’s first visit with the local vet.

A few days later Holly and her assistant McKenzie are on a search for the escape artist gelding Ric.  Not in his stall, the two women branch out to search the farm for the cheeky gelding.  Holly is dismayed to find that the older riding horse is trotting down the road and out of sight over the hill.  Knowing that she won’t catch him on foot, she opts to follow him in the car.

Holly is relieved to find that when she gets to Ric, he has been securely apprehended by a man who was travelling in his car the other way.  As a surprising coincidence, Holly learns that he’s returned to town and is setting up a veterinary practice.  The good looking, friendly vet who obviously knows horses has much appeal to Holly.  She questions if she should hire him instead of Dr. Teal.  In spite of this potential new vet, Holly returns to Dr. Teal for a follow up appointment for Rufus.  After waiting a long time without service, she goes searching for the non apparent vet.  This results in Holly finding the older woman dead in one of the rooms at the practice.

Kill them with Kindness is another short follow on mystery from Dying to Win.  Holly finds herself questioning if the first suspect that comes to her mind could really be the murderer of Dr. Teal.  As she continues her work at the stables, she also works to solve the mystery of Dr. Teal’s murder.  The story ends well and is wrapped up quickly.

Author – Eve Craig
Fiction – adult
In my library – as an eBook it is.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.

In the sequel to Born that Way, the reader finds young Sylvia is having an interesting battle.  For a horse nut, it is hard to explain why the fourteen year old would be anxious about the arrival of her very first horse.  Sylvia’s grandfather surprised her by purchasing her a gelding.  He has been sent from Saskatchewan to the barn that her friend Kansas owns and runs.  In Made that Way, Sylvia is finally getting her first horse, in spite of having not grown taller.

As someone with Turner Syndrome, Sylvia has a genetic disease that results in her being infertile and missing oestrogen because of underdeveloped ovaries.  It also leaves her at a height where she struggles to see over stall doors.  In an endeavour to change this, she is on medication that should help her to develop like a normal teen.

For Sylvia all it seems to do is cause headaches, double vision and nausea.  Unless that can all be chalked down to her sense of doom about her arriving horse.

Brooklyn’s arrival is not what she expects.  The grey gelding comes off the truck lame, has something wrong with his head and has left Kansas speechless.  Sylvia isn’t quite sure what’s going on, but she doesn’t like it.  Kansas is hiding something from her.  On top of this, the weird unicorn that frequents her dreams has led her to some confusing – and extremely amusing – conclusions.

Made that Way is a very amusing read with some great horse information in it.  As Sylvia learns more about Brooklyn, she makes some analogies about herself and her life at school.  Herd dynamics help her to see the bullies at school – and how they need to be managed – in a different light.  Made that Way is a great follow on from Born that Way and has a wonderful mixture of humour, education regarding horses, teen angst and a great conclusion.  Highly recommended.

Author – Susan Ketchen
Fiction – early teenage years
In my library – as an eBook it is!  A great read.
Want it? Get it now on Amazon.