Publication date: October 30th, 2023
Synopsis:
Josiah is happy for her pals Lady Elsmere and Shaneika Mary Todd when broodmare Jean Harlow gives birth to a male foal sired by Comanche. The owners of both horses have high hopes the foal will become a stakes winner--maybe even win the Kentucky Derby. The foal has a broad chest, indicating significant lung capacity--important for winning races, but just like his daddy, the foal is ebony with a bad attitude.
Josiah and Shaneika visit dam Jean Harlow early one morning and are shocked to find the prized foal is missing. They frantically search Lady Elsmere's and Josiah's farms without success. It's urgent they find the foal as he is not yet weaned and is too young to be separated from his mother. Who would snatch the feisty foal from his mother's care? And equally important, why?
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Excerpt
I double-checked the stalls and followed Shaneika outside. We searched around the barn and found an aged white Toyota with Juan Gomez sitting inside. He was the night watchman for three barns. If anyone knew what had happened to the colt, it would be him.
"Juan! Juan!" Shaneika called, running to the car.
Baby ran ahead to the car and jumped up, placing his paws on the open window ledge.
I followed and saw Shaneika push Baby out of the way.
"Juan, what has happened to Last Chance?" Shaneika asked frantically.
The man didn't answer but looked asleep. How could he be sleeping with all this racket?
"Juan, answer us! Juan?" I said, tapping on the windshield.
The man didn't respond, so I opened the car door.
Juan toppled over and spilled out of the car, stiff and gray in pallor.
Shaneika and I both screamed and then froze, not quite understanding what we were witnessing. Baby reacted first, sniffing Juan and pawing the man with his massive paws.
"Stop that, Baby," I commanded. Coming to my senses, I leaned over and felt for a pulse. Looking up with dread, I exclaimed, "He's dead, Shaneika. Juan is dead!"
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ABIGAIL KEAM is an award-winning and Amazon best-selling author who writes the Josiah Reynolds Mystery Series about a Southern beekeeper turned amateur female sleuth. Besides loving history, Kentucky bourbon and chocolate, Abigail loves honeybees and for many years made her living by selling honey at a farmers' market like her protagonist, Josiah Reynolds. She is an award-winning beekeeper who has won many honey awards at the Kentucky State Fair including the Barbara Horn Award, which is given to beekeepers who rate a perfect 100 in a honey competition.
Miss Abigail has taken her knowledge of beekeeping to create a fictional beekeeping protagonist, Josiah Reynolds, who solves mysteries in the Bluegrass. While Miss Abigail's novels are for enjoyment, she discusses the importance of a local sustainable food economy and land management for honeybees and other creatures.
She currently lives on the Kentucky River in a metal house with her husband and various critters. She still has honeybees.
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