In Colt Blood

Nattie Gold Mystery: 3

ISBN: 0736647872 Order from: Books on Tape

An entertaining tale of murder investigation, this book is drenched in the horse culture, and features a non-stop, slightly zany first-person narration.

Reviewed by David on September 21, 2002

Genre: Mystery (Amateur Sleuth, Horse, Humor, ESP)

Synopsis: This is an unabridged recording of In Colt Blood. Natalie Gold, a fashion reporter at a Charlotte newspaper, and a horse-crazy adolescent in her thirties, has an incredible knack of getting involved in crime investigations. When a wealthy horse owner is murdered, Natalie naturally pokes her nose into the case. Especially when she is attracted to the police investigator, and one of her feature articles involves interviewing the prime suspect.

Neither the police, nor her own management want Natalie anywhere near the investigation. More to the point, the murderer seems determined to discourage Natalie's poking around. Even the nosy reporter herself wants to stay out of it this time. Alas, uninvolvement is one of the things Natalie can't do well.

Full Review: The book starts fairly conventionally. An intensely disliked wealthy horse-owner is found murdered in her own pasture. Natalie's routine interview is interrupted when one of her subjects is sought by the police. However, uncoventional features soon show up. Natalie's father is an ultimate flake, subject to every new-age fad. Natalie, in-between taking care of the erratic parent and dismissing the fuzzy mysticism, seems quite subject to fads of her own, from taking her father's dubious supplements, to half-believing her own ESP.

Nattie (as her friends call her) is full of energy, intense likes and dislikes, vacillation and angst-filled introspection. Although the latter is frequently out-loud: the main character lacks most restraint or subtlety. An excess of angst, psycho-analysis and social stereotyping, added to vague but frequent talk of extrasensory perception, form a colorful, if a bit irritating narration.

The narrator, likable and zany, is both an advantage and an occasional distraction in this pleasant story.

Overall: 6; Plot: 6; Characters: 5.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 0736647872 Order from: Books on Tape