Review: Neighing with Fire by Kathryn O'Sullivan

A Mysterious Review of Neighing with Fire by Kathryn O'Sullivan. A Colleen McCabe Mystery.

Review summary: This is, on balance, an enjoyable mystery, but also a frustrating one for mystery readers. The cleverly plotted multiple murder storyline, by far its best asset, is too often sidetracked by several completely unrelated and tangential subplots that do little other than take up space in the book. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Neighing with Fire
Kathryn O'Sullivan
A Colleen McCabe Mystery
Minotaur Books (May 2015)

Publisher synopsis: Fire Chief Colleen McCabe is enjoying a quiet summer and her budding romance with Sheriff Bill Dorman. However, her peaceful start to the tourist season is shattered when a tropical storm blows through Corolla and unearths a body buried under a vacation home boardwalk. When callous land developer Denny Custis dies in a suspicious fire, Colleen has a hunch the two deaths are linked.

As she and Bill investigate, they discover that virtually everyone, including Colleen, has had a beef or run-in with Denny and a motive for murder. When Pinky Salvatore becomes the primary suspect, Colleen is determined to clear his name. Despite his and Denny's well-documented housing development rivalry, Colleen is convinced that the real killer is still out there.

While digging through an ever-widening list of suspects, Bill and Colleen become embroiled in a vicious battle between those committed to saving Corolla's wild horses, those protecting the endangered piping plover shore bird, and a greedy tour company who would destroy their habitats.