Chasing Cans: A Gail McCarthy Mystery (Gail McCarthy Mysteries) [Paperback]

Laura Crum (Author)

Book Description

Series: Gail McCarthy Mysteries | Publication Date: March 20, 2008

Chasing Cans (a horseman’s term for barrel racing) features all the accurate western horse background that Crum is known for, plus a fast-paced plot and a thrilling horseback climax.The tenth book in the popular series is also a portrait of a woman making the challenging transition from full-time career as a horse vet to full-time mother.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crum's agreeable 10th Gail McCarthy equestrian adventure (after 2006's Moonblind) finds the amateur sleuth adjusting happily enough to life as a stay-at-home mom with toddler Mac, though she misses the total freedom and control she once enjoyed as Santa Cruz County's top veterinarian. Enter a nasty new neighbor, Lindee Stone, who ruffles feathers wherever she goes and sets her sights on a corral where Gail keeps two horses. When Gail goes to confront Lindee about her unsavory business practices, Gail witnesses the expert horsewoman's death during a barrel-racing exercise. After a second horse wreck occurs a few days later, Gail is sure they weren't accidents and sets out to prove it. While this slim mystery is full of the customary horse facts and well-rounded characters, Gail's musings on motherhood can be a bit heavy-handed at times. She remains, however, a likable heroine readers—horse lovers or not—will continue to seek out. (Apr.)
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Review

“If you haven’t discovered Laura Crum yet, please jump at any chance to catch up on the series. The Gail McCarthy books are among my very favorite contemporary mysteries and Crum is, for my money, the successor to mystery giant Dick Francis.” --Ron Miller, author of Mystery! A Celebration

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Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Perseverance Press (March 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880284944
• ISBN-13: 978-1880284940
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,351,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not bad--awful!, April 16, 2008

By 

M. Hughes (Winnebago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing Cans: A Gail McCarthy Mystery (Gail McCarthy Mysteries) (Paperback)

If you are a new mother, perhaps you can find some connection with this book. Baby is the theme, plot, subject of every page of the entire book. A constant, mind numbing narrative on motherhood. Gail McCarthy gave up a wonderful career as an equine vet. Now she ruminates in her cabin with Baby. Her hair is greasy and ragged, her clothes are dirty, her house is filthy. (Note: New device for shampooing carpet. Dogs. Globs of baby food on carpet. Dogs lick up what they can and that's good enough.) This book was appalling!

If I was a fictional doctor, I would prescribe antidepressants for Gail. The woman has to have a major case of postpartum depression.

Laura Crum, write another book if or when Gail 'gets a life'. Book deserves no stars and I deserve a refund.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Baby Blues, June 13, 2009

By 

J. Johnson "Lotsabooks" (Palmdale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chasing Cans: A Gail McCarthy Mystery (Gail McCarthy Mysteries) (Paperback)

I have to agree with other reviewers about the baby-centric tone. This is the first book I've read by Laura Crum; I was attracted due to the "horsey" subject, the veterinarian protagonist and the mystery genre. While I am going to look for the previous books in the series, I'm not going to hang on to this one. Gail McCarthy, the veterinarian, has just had a baby and the entire book is chock filled with ecstatic musings on the joys of stay at home motherhood vs how much she used to like being a career person, with thoughts on how other mothers should certainly be staying at home watching their cherished infants too. Oh yes, the mystery. A nasty horse trainer dies in a not-so-accidental fall while Gail is watching. Crum writes very well; I liked the mystery - I think I'll like the previous books in the series - but this particular entry isn't for me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I agree, it was awful, March 20, 2009

By 

Lee151 (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chasing Cans: A Gail McCarthy Mystery (Gail McCarthy Mysteries) (Paperback)

Having read all of the previous Gail McCarthy equine vet mysteries I was appalled to read this one. I agree that Gail seems like she is wallowing in postpartum depression and I felt like I was too after reading it.

Bring back the horses! Authors of equine fiction that actually know horses are hard to find and Laura Crum does know her subject. I won't be buying this one though....