Review: Foal Play by Kathryn O'Sullivan

A Mysterious Review of …

Foal Play by Kathryn O'Sullivan. A Colleen McCabe Mystery.

Review summary: From a mystery plot perspective, this Malice Domestic Contest-winning novel adopts a relatively simplistic, by-the-numbers approach. Indeed, the story itself is not nearly as important as the cast of characters playing in it. To be sure, however, what this mystery lacks in substance is more than made up for in entertainment. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Foal Play
Kathryn O'Sullivan
A Colleen McCabe Mystery
Minotaur Books (May 2013)

Publisher synopsis: Colleen McCabe is enjoying an uneventful summer in North Carolina's Outer Banks supervising her firefighters, making rounds with her Border collie, Sparky, and keeping an eye on the wild horses escaped from the local sanctuary. But when a dead body washes up on shore, she knows trouble has arrived in Corolla.

Colleen is ready to start work on the investigation, but much to her irritation, her best friend, Sheriff Bill Dorman, makes it clear he doesn’t want her butting her nose in or poking around. The stubborn Colleen, however, is not so easily deterred. When a man with a gun is spotted lurking around the lighthouse and her former school teacher’s house explodes, she adds arson and a second suspicious death to her informal investigation. Colleen soon finds herself juggling her job, amorous advances from the town’s developer, and intrusions from the local press, all while keeping information from Bill. Her secret sleuthing quickly comes to an end, however, when a bigger threat enters the picture.