The Opium Equation — Lisa Wysocky

Winner of silver medals from IBPA (Ben Franklin Awards, Mystery), the American Horse Publication Awards (Best Book), Mom's Choice Awards (Fiction), and National Indie Excellence Awards (Mystery). No one liked Glenda much. So when retired movie star Glenda Dupree was murdered at Fairbanks, her antebellum mansion near Nashville, Tennessee, there was much speculation, but no one missed her. Prior to leaving life on earth, Glenda had managed to offend everyone in sight, including her neighbor, a (mostly) law-abiding horse trainer named Cat Enright.

Cat finds Glenda's body and is implicated in the murder, and also in the disappearance of a ten-year-old neighbor, Bubba Henley. Cat thinks Bubba's disappearance ties into the murder and realizes her name will not be cleared until he is found. Because the police treat the missing boy as a runaway Cat begins her quest to find Bubba, solve Glenda's murder, and clear her name.

An unpopular sheriff and upcoming election mean the pressure to close the case is on. With the help of her riding students, a (possibly) psychic horse, a local cop, a kid named Frog, and an eccentric client of a certain age with electric blue hair, Cat takes time from her horse training business to try to solve the case and keep herself out of prison. The Opium Equation features reader club questions and 19 horse tips, and the series has been optioned for film and television.