The Dark Side of Town: A Fia McKee Mystery

Hill’s fast-paced sequel to 2017’s Flamingo Road takes ex-cop Fia McKee, now working for the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, to New York’s legendary Saratoga Race Course, where she goes undercover as a stable hand to check out trainer Marzio “Mars” Pizzuti. One foggy morning near a training track, Fia hears a gunshot. An apprentice jockey who had just arrived from South America apparently shot himself dead. This inexplicable tragedy adds further urgency to her investigation of Pizzuti. Rumored to have a penchant for doping horses and blackmailing jockeys, Pizzuti is also alleged to have ties to organized crime. When aspiring jockey Stevie Davis is given his big break, but runs afoul of Pizzuti and his business partners, Fia learns that Stevie and his younger sister have been threatened. After another body turns up, it’s game on for Fia and Calixto Coyune, another operative, who’s posing as her new paramour. Fans of horse racing and everyone else will find this tale of love, lust, greed, and family ties an enjoyable ride. Agent: Ann Collette, Helen Rees Literary Agency. (Apr.)