Customer Reviews

Dead Heat

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This is Murray's last book, having passed away earlier this year. If you are a racing fan or otherwise interested in the world of the racetrack and the crazy people who inhabit it, buy this book. It's funny, touching, and all too familiar for those who love the horses. And then buy all of Murray's racing mysteries. This final book is a great read and I hated to see it end. Murray captured what makes a day at the races so special to many of us. One of these days I'll finally get out to Del Mar and hoist a beer and a few losing tickets in Murray's memory. Until then I'm stuck with the great books he wrote. If you love racing, you'll love this book.

I was taken by the racetrack accuracy of this book, the author's evident familiarity with the world of trainers and owners, jockeys and agents; stakes horses, horses running for a claiming price, horses in maiden races, etc. And Murray clearly knows the ins and outs of an actual race, from the influence of the track surface on a particular horse to the predilections of certain horses to run in front and others to come from behind. And he knows a thing or two about betting as well. All of which, as a racetrack railbird over the years, I appreciated and enjoyed.

But as a mystery reader, I found the plot unconvincing and at times uninteresting, drawn as it is against the so much more convincing details of the racing game. And after a while the characters' repeated assertions about how wonderful the world of the racetrack is--better than any other--put me off my feed, so to speak. Though I don't disagree with the sentiment, it yanked me away from the story and all but sank the plot beneath the notion that the mystery was no more than a device to enable Murray to talk about the world of racing.I Think, Therefore Who Am I?