Murder in the Winner's Circle

by M.J. Evans

FROM AWARD-WINNING, BESTSELLING AUTHOR M.J. EVANS

THE SECOND BOOK IN THE HARNESS RACING MYSTERY SERIES

A Birthday Celebration. A Champion Horse. A Deadly Toast.

Alfred Wellington has everything he wants on his sixtieth birthday. His prized colt just won at Liberty Racetrack, the champagne is flowing, and the crowd is cheering.

Then Alfred collapses.

At first, everyone assumes it was a heart attack—until the autopsy reveals the truth.

ALFRED WELLINGTON WAS POISONED.

Former insurance investigator Callie Oaks Coffman knows Liberty Racetrack inside and out. She knows its horses, its owners, its trainers—and she knows that secrets can get someone killed. As she and her new husband, reporter Paul Coffman, become drawn into the investigation, Callie discovers that Alfred left behind plenty of people with reasons to want him dead.

A beautiful young wife.
A secretive trainer.
A bitter ex-wife.
A business partner with something to hide.

But which one of them is the killer?

BECAUSE IN THE WINNER'S CIRCLE, EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE.

259 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication November 3, 2026

About the author

I am a graduate of Oregon State University. Upon graduation, I spent five years teaching at the middle school and high school levels. My writing, at that time, was limited to curriculum. That was not fun.

While raising my children, I coached their Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination teams for seventeen years. I helped them write their own stories for the competitions. During this time, I also wrote two parent handbooks for the Salem, Oregon School district on sex education.

Over twenty years ago, I was able to combine my passion for horses with my love of writing. I researched and wrote two equestrian trail guide books for the Denver area. By “research” I mean that I spent every Friday riding my horse on a new trail, be it on the plains or in the mountains. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it! The result of that work was the publication of Riding Colorado-Day Trips from Denver with Your Horse, and Riding Colorado II. Both books continue to sell very well in the Denver to Colorado Springs area and have made my horse famous.

I was able to combine my love of horses with my love of fantasy in my first Trilogy. The Mist Trilogy, comprised of Behind the Mist, Mists of Darkness and the Rising Mist received a gold medal from the Mom's Choice Awards. My next fantasy, an allegory of the Revolutionary War, but with Trolls and Leprechauns, won first place in the Purple Dragonfly Awards for fantasy. I took a brief (2 year) break from writing fantasy to complete a contemporary, coming of age novel titled "In the Heart of a Mustang." This YA novel won first place in the Literary Classics Awards for Young Adult fiction and second place in the Nautilus Awards and the Reader's Favorite awards in the same category.

On October 1, 2016, I released the first book of my new fantasy series "The Stone of Mercy: Book 1 of the Centaur Chronicles."

I have now expanded my writing interests to include Historical Fiction: "PINTO! Based Upon the True Story of the Longest Horseback Ride in History," and "The Sand Pounder - Love and Drama on Horseback in WWII."
I have also had fun working with illustrators on five picture books: "PERCY - The Racehorse Who Didn't Like to Run," and "The Skullington Family Series."

I describe myself as a “Mozart” type of writer as opposed to a “Beethoven” writer. When I sit down to write, the words just flow and I don’t have to go back and do a lot of revisions until the first draft (the foundation) is done. Then I can go back and correct and embellish all I want.
My newest venture (2026) is an Adult Mystery series set in the world of Harness racing! It's fun to try new things.