Blood Ties — Joe McNally; Richard Pitman

The third book in the Eddie Malloy series, following Warned Off and Hunted, Blood Ties is another fast-moving mystery set in the world of UK horse racing. The plot is fresh and intriguing and will challenge mystery fans who enjoy piecing together the clues. Troubled jockey Eddie Malloy invests everything he has to become a partner in a small thoroughbred stud. One morning a blackmailer calls threatening to make public that Malloy's stud has an infertile stallion and is cheating breeders. Malloy discovers that his partner in the stud, Martin Corish, has disappeared, leaving behind a pregnant young groom and a vengeful wife. Corish was Eddie's childhood hero, but Eddie only really gets to know Martin Corish when the chips are down and he faces threats and violence. Eddie's search for the blackmailer leads him through an ever-widening web of deceit, envy, murder and the discovery that his parents, long estranged from him, might be involved. Does he let the criminals go, or must he surrender a family secret that will kill his father?