Triple Cross [Hardcover]

Kit Ehrman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 10, 2007

Although 23-year-old barn manager Steve Cline doesn't expect to stray far from the horse world, he has enrolled in a private investigations course and is working on the final project. But when his father, racehorse trainer Chris Kessler, invites him to Louisville on a two-week, all-expense-paid vacation that will culminate with the running of the Kentucky Derby, how can he refuse? Except, it isn't really a vaction. Kessler has a Derby runner and needs a reliable fill-in when one of his employees is injured.

With only two horses to care for, the workload is light, and Steve decides to get that class project out of the way--a simple records search. But the very act of initiating the project triggers a chance encounter that plunges Steve into the world of the ultra rich. A world where greed and revenge and ambition drive some men to commit unspeakable acts amid the pageantry and glamour of thoroughbred racing.

In quick order, Steve finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation and the target of brutal thugs. From the relative security of the backside to the Derby festivities that transform downtown Louisville into Party Central to the opulence of a Lexington horse farm, Steve deals with his own personal demons and strained relationships as he attempts to stop a murderer before a power play culminates in shattered dreams and a bloody triple cross....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of Ehrman's engaging fourth outing for barn manager Steve Cline (after 2005's Cold Burn), Steve visits Louisville for the Kentucky Derby, courtesy of his newly found biological father, trainer Chris Kessler, who yearns to have his talented son work full-time. But Steve, who lives in Maryland, is considering getting a PI license and uses the time in Louisville to complete a class assignment: find out all you can about someone. He chooses as his research subject Nicole Austin, a Churchill Downs employee he met only once. When Nicole's corpse turns up, Steve quickly becomes the primary suspect. While working to clear his name, Steve is invited into the rarefied world of wealthy racehorse owners by Rudi Sturgill, a cheerful playboy who may be the killer. Though Ehrman has yet to master the tightly focused plotting of jockey-turned-author Dick Francis, equine-minded readers will enjoy her capable, savvy young protagonist and authentic depiction of the gritty world of horse racing.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When Steve Cline accepts his horse-trainer father's invitation to spend two weeks at Churchill Downs as one of two caregivers for Kentucky Derby contender Gallant Storm, he looks forward to an idyllic respite from his normal duties as a barn manager in Maryland. Cline wouldn't be in his fourth crime mystery at the tender age of 23 if he weren't a magnet for trouble, however, and within days of arriving in Louisville, he has befriended a young woman who soon turns up dead. Quickly, Cline has become the target of both the police and a couple of thugs bent on mayhem. His attempts to find out why the young woman was killed lead him deep into the exclusive world of Bluegrass bluebloods, where he becomes increasingly at risk as he gets closer to uncovering a shameful secret. There is plenty of action here, all set against the excitement and pageantry of the buildup to America's greatest horse race. Neither race fans nor devotees of suspense will be disappointed. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press; 1 edition (January 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590583027
• ISBN-13: 978-1590583029
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,774,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!, September 28, 2007

By 

ANN SELF "AUTHOR SOMETHING MOST DEADLY" (NEW ENGLAND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Triple Cross (Hardcover)

Is all I can say. This author is supposed to be the next Dick Francis, and although I was doubtful, I now have to agree. The language is a bit salty for me, but it is a racetrack story, and at least you're not beat over the head with cursing. I've been to Churchill Downs, and the place is MAGIC. Kit Ehrman captures it completely, creating the whole racetrack establishment in your mind for the action to seat in--this is total immersion in the "backsiders" world, the most interesting place on a track. Louisville is also well represented here, and the excitement of big business and corporate espionage adds up to a thrilling story. I hated this book to end, hated leaving the world of Steve Cline and his foray into the Private Investigator business. Hated leaving the horses and the thrill of racing. I now have to go back and read Ehrman's other Steve Cline mysteries and hope they're as good as this one.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Steve Cline goes to Kentucky for the Derby, March 22, 2007

By 

PJ Coldren (Saint Helen, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Triple Cross (Hardcover)

It's Derby Week in Louisville, Kentucky; Steve Cline is there as a favor to Chris Kessler, his father. Steve is also taking a class pursuant to a possible career as a P.I. In order to complete an assignment, he has to do some background checking on a stranger. He picks, for no real reason, Nicole Austin. This turns out to be a big mistake.

Steve is mugged at a party he's been invited to by Rudy Sturgill, someone with money and clout. Nicole Austin disappears without a trace and her apartment is searched. When Steve continues to ask questions about her, he is threatened by yet another man with money and clout, the man his father works for. Cline doesn't back off, and events continue to go from bad to worse in the ever-increasing frenzy of Derby week.

Ehrman has been compared, for obvious reasons, to Dick Francis. Francis, for the most part, wrote stand-alones, which gave him the luxury of not having to stretch in order to place his protagonist in a setting that could convincingly contain a murder. Ehrman, because this is a series, has to work at getting Steve into these situations; that work is not obvious. Each story has been plausible. Steve continues to grow as a character while the readers gets to learn more about horses and the various ways people can work in conjunction with them. TRIPLE CROSS is another well-written entry in Ehrman's series.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fine horse racing mystery, January 28, 2007

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Triple Cross (Hardcover)

Twenty-three years old Maryland barn manager Steve Cline is working with his dad as they prepare their horse Gallant Storm for the Kentucky Derby. His father trainer Chris Kessler feels he has a solid shot of winning the most prestigious racing event and many pundits agree. Steve joins him in Louisville.

However, Steve has plenty of idle time on his hands as the race is two weeks away and his time serving on the racing team is minor. To his credit he avoids race groupies as he remains faithful to his girlfriend Rachel. However, he fills his time studying from the mail order private investigator course he is enrolled in as he tries to make practical applications while hiding what he is doing from Rachel, who detests Steve's aspirations to become a sleuth. He soon finds himself in the middle of a real homicide of a woman whose relationships leave behind plenty of people with motive, means and opportunity.

Steve is a roguish charmer who readers will like in his fourth appearance (see COLD BURN and DEAD MAN'S TOUCH) and the horse racing sequences especially the preparation for a race insightful and clearly a winner. However, the murder mystery track is muddy as some conclusions seem questionable. Still Dick Francis would enjoy racing with Steve as he tries to complete his correspondence class project without getting killed.

Harriet Klausner