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Abby Fields Cozy Mystery #1
Mount Up for Murder
Welcome to Hazelmere... an idyllic English village. Or is it? After Abby Fields is disastrously fired from her London firm, she applies for a stable hand job at Langdon House Estate in the village of Hazelmere. But when she arrives for the interview, the estate’s in chaos.
Lord Langdon has died and his estranged sons have arrived for the reading of the will. Handsome farm manager Oliver offers her temporary work that might become permanent depending on who inherits and what they decide to do with the estate.
Will it be sour Stuart or flirty Josh? The brothers have only one thing in common – they hate each other.
Stuart is a nitpicking micromanager of note. Josh seems a better choice, but there’s an uneasy moment when he makes a pass at Abby.
After the will is read, hidden motives become clear. The new heir is not the person Abby believed him to be, and the estate is headed for destruction.
And then, there’s a murder...
Sucked into the ensuing chaos, Abby must fight to clear her name and uncover the real killer’s identity, while dealing with a rogue donkey, a police detective who keeps arresting the wrong people, and her own fears of getting back in the saddle.
Can she juggle all these balls without smashing any of them?
Her future, and the estate’s, depends on it.
Horses, humor, and a dash of homicide.
(And an out-of-control donkey adding to the chaos!)
Lord Langdon has died and his estranged sons have arrived for the reading of the will. Handsome farm manager Oliver offers her temporary work that might become permanent depending on who inherits and what they decide to do with the estate.
Will it be sour Stuart or flirty Josh? The brothers have only one thing in common – they hate each other.
Stuart is a nitpicking micromanager of note. Josh seems a better choice, but there’s an uneasy moment when he makes a pass at Abby.
After the will is read, hidden motives become clear. The new heir is not the person Abby believed him to be, and the estate is headed for destruction.
And then, there’s a murder...
Sucked into the ensuing chaos, Abby must fight to clear her name and uncover the real killer’s identity, while dealing with a rogue donkey, a police detective who keeps arresting the wrong people, and her own fears of getting back in the saddle.
Can she juggle all these balls without smashing any of them?
Her future, and the estate’s, depends on it.
Horses, humor, and a dash of homicide.
(And an out-of-control donkey adding to the chaos!)
277 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2025
Tracking Down a Murderer . . .
Abby Fields is called in after 8 months of employment for a performance review, hoping she would be moved into a senior PR account manager position. The receptionist replied that normally promotions only happen after a year. But her hard work and the overtime she has put in may make her the employee who was promoted the fastest! That would prove to her disappointed mother that she could be proud of her even after she had quit the family business! As the youngest of three daughters in the business, she had no hope of ever making it to the top working with the family. She was called into the meeting but tripped on the carpet, lost her shoe, and hopped around trying to get it back on her foot. Kaylee, Mr. Callahan’s personal assistant, rudely laughed out loud at her predicament. He told Abby that Kaylee had the idea of introducing “Harold” to the agency. Harold is their new "AI" agent who has been studying Abby’s work so that he learns from her press releases. He is capable of doing the work of four people. They consider him to be a “person” so Kaylee reprimanded her when Abby said she wasn’t aware she was being used to train an AI bot. (Mr. Callahan still hadn’t called her by her real name, calling her Angela, then Amelia, names for his dogs.) The final result is that Abby isn’t needed anymore. She has just been fired. And her boss apparently put in a bad word about her because she couldn’t even get an interview now.
Needing a job, Abby applies to work as a stable assistant since her uncle used to own a small farm in New Jersey. However the owner of the Langdon House estate just died and one of his two estranged sons will inherit. Depending on which one, the fate of the stable has two possibilities. The farm manager, Oliver Ryder, told her she could work here temporarily, but the job isn’t guaranteed since its fate is unknown. But two of the horses need to be ridden for exercise right now. Not wanting to ride at all, she told him she was not dressed for riding, but he suggested she keep the horse at a walk to avoid splattered mud and he could provide her with a hard hat as they each exercised the two hunters. Just then, one of the deceased owner’s sons arrived. Of the two brothers, Stuart will be a nitpicking micromanager while Josh is a notorious flirt, likely to make a pass at Abby.
When the Will is finally read, it created a shouting match between the two sons, one shouting he would contest the Will. Who would inherit? Will Abby get to keep her job at the stable? Or will she be tangled up in a murder case to clear her name when she finds the person she goes to speak to on the floor with a black-handled chef’s knife jutting from his chest?
Abby Fields is called in after 8 months of employment for a performance review, hoping she would be moved into a senior PR account manager position. The receptionist replied that normally promotions only happen after a year. But her hard work and the overtime she has put in may make her the employee who was promoted the fastest! That would prove to her disappointed mother that she could be proud of her even after she had quit the family business! As the youngest of three daughters in the business, she had no hope of ever making it to the top working with the family. She was called into the meeting but tripped on the carpet, lost her shoe, and hopped around trying to get it back on her foot. Kaylee, Mr. Callahan’s personal assistant, rudely laughed out loud at her predicament. He told Abby that Kaylee had the idea of introducing “Harold” to the agency. Harold is their new "AI" agent who has been studying Abby’s work so that he learns from her press releases. He is capable of doing the work of four people. They consider him to be a “person” so Kaylee reprimanded her when Abby said she wasn’t aware she was being used to train an AI bot. (Mr. Callahan still hadn’t called her by her real name, calling her Angela, then Amelia, names for his dogs.) The final result is that Abby isn’t needed anymore. She has just been fired. And her boss apparently put in a bad word about her because she couldn’t even get an interview now.
Needing a job, Abby applies to work as a stable assistant since her uncle used to own a small farm in New Jersey. However the owner of the Langdon House estate just died and one of his two estranged sons will inherit. Depending on which one, the fate of the stable has two possibilities. The farm manager, Oliver Ryder, told her she could work here temporarily, but the job isn’t guaranteed since its fate is unknown. But two of the horses need to be ridden for exercise right now. Not wanting to ride at all, she told him she was not dressed for riding, but he suggested she keep the horse at a walk to avoid splattered mud and he could provide her with a hard hat as they each exercised the two hunters. Just then, one of the deceased owner’s sons arrived. Of the two brothers, Stuart will be a nitpicking micromanager while Josh is a notorious flirt, likely to make a pass at Abby.
When the Will is finally read, it created a shouting match between the two sons, one shouting he would contest the Will. Who would inherit? Will Abby get to keep her job at the stable? Or will she be tangled up in a murder case to clear her name when she finds the person she goes to speak to on the floor with a black-handled chef’s knife jutting from his chest?
March 9, 2026
This was a really fun read. The murdered person got exactly what they deserved. I hate developers and big Ag companies who ruin everything.
Abby is rather gleefully fired from her office job by a co-worker named Kaylee, who tells her she's been replaced with AI. I wanted to smack Kaylee upside her head and ask her how soon AI could replace her as the boss's mistress.
Abby took a rather bad spill in her youth and has been afraid to get back on a horse. I took a similar one and was back riding the next day with a concussion ---so --- I didn't quite get that. She's worried when she takes a position as a stable assistant, but figures she can take care of the horses and fake the riding. I enjoyed reading about the stables and all the horses, and I absolutely LOVED Don Quixote the donkey!
Definitely looking forward to the next book, and I will check out some of the authors other works.
'
Abby is rather gleefully fired from her office job by a co-worker named Kaylee, who tells her she's been replaced with AI. I wanted to smack Kaylee upside her head and ask her how soon AI could replace her as the boss's mistress.
Abby took a rather bad spill in her youth and has been afraid to get back on a horse. I took a similar one and was back riding the next day with a concussion ---so --- I didn't quite get that. She's worried when she takes a position as a stable assistant, but figures she can take care of the horses and fake the riding. I enjoyed reading about the stables and all the horses, and I absolutely LOVED Don Quixote the donkey!
Definitely looking forward to the next book, and I will check out some of the authors other works.
'
August 22, 2025
Abby started her new job as stable manager, but then disaster struck. There's a murder and she's a suspect. Abby decided to investigate so that she could clear her name. The book is entertaining with wonderful characters, beautiful horses, a handsome farm manager, a murder, and much more. I enjoyed it very much. It's a page-turner and I recommend it to all cozy mystery fans.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
January 23, 2026
Enjoyed this one, though the heroine seems to view every male as a potential partner. Nicely plotted if somewhat surreal. It did come over as a bit of a whirlwind of events, but none the worse for that. I enjoyed the equine bits as well as the murder mystery bits and it has the makings of a thoroughly enjoyable series.
May 13, 2026
Cute read but frustrating main character
Enjoyed the horsey themed mystery drama with some light humor. But the main character was frustratingly dense and tactless at times. A good book to pass away the time.
Enjoyed the horsey themed mystery drama with some light humor. But the main character was frustratingly dense and tactless at times. A good book to pass away the time.
April 11, 2026
Great story with humour
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews