In Kickback, by Damien Boyd, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon "of the Avon and Somerset police" investigates the suspicious death of a groom and wannabe jockey at a British racing stable. It's no spoiler to state that the death is not what it seems. The investigation leads Dixon and his partner and paramour Jane into the intricacies of betting schemes and hidden relationships as they resolve the murder and several other scams as well.
In general I'm not a fan of minimalist writing, but in this case, Boyd supplied me with the information I needed in a style that highlighted Dixon's no-nonsense, get-the-job-done panache. The low-key, taut voice pleasantly understated Dixon's occasional (and probably obligatory) rouge-cop maneuvers and encouraged readers to supply atmosphere that might have slowed this austere plot. In short, I found myself more than willing to return each evening to Dixon's quest. In fact, I could say that Kickback provides what some of the indie horse books I've been reading recently lacks: a "voice": that elusive sense that you're hearing a unique, imaginative individual speaking to you as narrator and not just someone who has looked up the "rules" for narrative prose.
Minor quibbles: 1) The betting scheme is distinctly British, based on a bookmaker culture that American race goers may not fully understand. Boyd does a reasonable job of explaining it, but I found myself wishing the explanation was a bit more fleshed out with a specific example. 2) I didn't feel completely prepared for the twist at the end; by that, I mean that when I encountered it, I didn't find myself saying, "How fitting!" or "Now I see that I should have sensed that coming on." Still, the plotting led to it neatly enough, and I was willing to buy it if not to celebrate its cleverness or aptness.
My only real gripe is that Jane's role seems limited to passively following Dixon around, fetching his slippers and praising his acumen. I wished she could have stepped out from behind him more. I suspect she has many admirable qualities that weren't on display.
In short, a direct, clean read for horse-mystery fans. This is one of series featuring Dixon, I believe; the horses weren't center-stage, but the glimpses of the British racing world enticed and entertained.