Breakaway: A Gail McCarthy Mystery

Gail McCarthy Mystery #6

by Laura Crum

Veterinarian Gail McCarthy has been working with horses for years and will in fact take over the practice when her boss retires. She has seen many different problems, but nothing could have prepared her for her newest call.

Early on a Saturday morning, Gail receives a disturbing phone call from a local woman. The woman, Nicole believes that her mare has been sexually violated during the night and wants Gail to come take a look. Gail confirms Nicole's suspicions and urges her to call the police. Whoever would do this to a horse is clearly a dangerous person and shouldn't be at large, but Nicole refuses to take any action.

However, the situation turns more dangerous. One night when Gail and her best friend Kris return from dinner, Kris finds her 15 year-old daughter knocked unconscious and their horse violated. Gail is determined to find answers before more lives are put at risk. It takes some ingenuity and the help of a friend on the police force to uncover the perpetrator, who may also be wanted for murder.

In this sixth addition to the series, Veterinarian Gail McCarthy manages to solve the puzzle while battling personal problems and even learns more about herself in the process.

Laura Crum, a horse lover and trainer for over twenty years, uses her knowledge of horses and her fine writing skills to create another memorable entry in this charming series set in the foothills of the beautiful Sierra Nevadas.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 11, 2001

About the author

Laura Crum has spent over twenty years training and showing western cowhorses, and her mystery series, featuring equine veterinarian Gail McCarthy, reflects her knowledge and love of horses. The twelve book series is available both in print and as ebooks. Laura still owns horses and rides regularly. She lives in the hills near California's Monterey Bay with her husband and son and a large menagerie of horses, dogs, cats and chickens. She be emailed and visited at lauracrum.com and blogs at equestrianink blogspot.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

ride that sexy horse

so about a week ago, on my listserv, they were looking for recommendations for mystery novels that did not involve murder, presumably for older patrons who were turned off by graphic violence. and my mind went right to this book, and i entertained a whole fantasy of giving it out to a little gentle biddy who just wanted a nice cozy domestic mystery about who left the butter out or who tracked crumbs through the pantry...

there would probably be complaints.

we had this in the store years ago, and when i was scanning the section for returns, i idly glanced at the dust jacket to see what it was all about. it is about horse rape. yup. some gentleman is going around and raping the lady horses of a particular community.

who could it be??

i kept it in the store as long as i could until it was clear it would never sell, and the humor it gave me was dwarfed by the stress of not having room for nine hundred janet evanovich hardcovers. so we parted ways, but i thought about it often in my lonely hours—musing, as of an ex-lover, "i wonder what happened to..."

so i made greg buy it for me on the internet. 99 cents.
(stupid question—why is there no "cents" symbol on the keyboard?? am i just missing it? how am i just noticing this now??)

some stones are best left unturned.

this is not very good. despite being about the raping of horses, it is pretty dull, with no humor and a pretty unlikable main female character. and not cool-unlikable, either, just someone that you probably are familiar with if you have a job that forces you to be in contact with people who are really crappy and are best avoided or the small talk will smother you. how can you be going through a crippling depression and still come off smug? yuk. and i think the author is doing that thing that unskilled writers do when they want to infuse their own personal beliefs about unrelated things into the character's voice, like the evils of television or real estate developments...speeches of this kind are clunky and unnecessary in a mystery novel. just tell me who is raping the damn horses already.

well, now i know.
and you don't.

and that's what i call a book review!



(this is what you get when you google "that horse was asking for it." keep your eyes out for this one, horse rapists...)

come to my blog!

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this sixth installment of Dr. Gail McCarthy's horse-related Santa Cruz adventures in one day. While Slickrock is still my favorite book of the series, I am now heavily invested in Gail as a character and intrigued at her personal journey, aside from the fun mysteries that arise in each novel.

Breakaway is a darker installment to the series and finds Gail struggling at a time when she is doing quite well in work and finances but battling an unexpected and unwieldy depression within. The horse mystery side of things is equally unexpected and overall it's an interesting and dark read with a well turned ending.

[Caryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another good mystery by Crum. Her books are always a pleasure as the horses and veterinary work are accurately depicted, the setting and characters are interesting, with enough suspense but not too much blood and gore.

Being a horse person from the east coast and now the Kentucky Bluegrass, I truly enjoy reading about how different horse and ranch life is in California. The author tackles a couple difficult subjects reasonably well in this book, including depression. Having the main character in a mystery series work through depression is a change, and I feel it was thoughtfully handled. Overall, this book was a page turner for me.

[JoAnn Plant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! She goes into a funk, finds a friend, loses her boyfriend, and finds a killer - the unlikeliest person she knows! She meets a new friend but loses that friend to murder; her suitor mentions a murder and her good friend almost loses her daughter! She suspects the suitor, his brother, and gets the local police involved - then sets a trap. What a great edge of your seat book!

[patricia ann adams]

Horse lover

I was born a horse lover and an avid reader. Not since Walter Farley, have I enjoyed a series of books as I have this one! The one exception would be "Miss Marple", so, Dr McCarthy is too perfect!!