Tabikat:

by Harriet Redfern

Tabikat is a talented racehorse, bred in rural Ireland by Eoghan Foley, a former jump jockey with a dramatic past. This thriller, set in the horse racing world, tells the story of the fight back against an organised crime family by Tabikat's connections.

The main action moves between Sampfield Grange, a point to point training yard in Somerset; Frossiac, a village on the Canal du Midi in Aude, France; Gleannglas, a small town in County Kerry, Ireland; and the famous Cheltenham racecourse in Gloucestershire.

Tabikat holds an entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup and is unexpectedly sent from a top Irish yard to reclusive English trainer James Sampfield Peveril, known to the racing world as Sam. Sam is visited by an old friend, Frank Stanley, who asks him to take on a mysterious new employee, Isabella Hall. The staff at Sampfield Grange suspect that isabella is not what she seems, and are determined to uncover her secret. Kye McMahon, Sam's stable groom, fears Isabella will expose his activities as a drug dealer, whilst household staff Kelly and Lewis believe Isabella to be having an affair with Frank Stanley. Sadie Shinkins, the yard manager is preoccupied with her affair with Merlin ap Rhys, Tabikat's jockey, as the two of them help Sam to prepare Tabikat for the race of his life.

Meanwhile, a mysterious English visitor to a remote French village is writing a novel about a murder at a deserted airfield committed by the head of an organised crime family. The connection between the author George Harvey, Isabella Hall and the racehorse Tabikat gradually emerges as Sam desperately tries to understand the true nature of what Frank Stanley has really asked of him. Peopled by colourful characters, both good and bad, from the racing world, the story reaches its climax as the Cheltenham Gold Cup is run.

The story of Tabikat will appeal to anyone who enjoys a gradually unfolding thriller set in the exciting world of horse racing.

510 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2018

Reviews

[Edward Bonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

First book i have read by this author can not wait for the next book. Keep you going till the end

[Holly Lenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tabikat is a complicated story full of mystery and intrigue with in which seemingly unconnected tales all come together to create a fascinating book. The story is centered around a racing stable and horses and can seem meandering at times, but the payoff is worth it in the end.

The narrator is terrific, though I found the occasional sound effects distracting. I am certain some listeners would appreciate them.

"This book was given to me for free at my request, and I provided this voluntary review."

[K.S. Agustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the unexpected visit from a long time albeit estranged friend of James Sampfield Peveril, the reclusive racehorse trainer and squire of Sampfield Grange, provokes the curiosity of the members of his household staff, the arrival of Isabella Hall as a temporary replacement office manager throws them in a state of suppressed agitation. Apparently, the presence of the ‘outsider’ has an unwelcome effect on each of them, probably for his or her own reason.

Unbeknownst to the staff, James Sampfield Peveril (known as Sam to his fellow trainers) himself is kept in the dark about the story behind his mysterious temporary employee. Sam is normally reserved and indifferent about the personal lives of the people under his employ. However, an intriguing account by his cousin piques his interest and makes him conclude that there is more to Isabella than a woman in need of a job. As if the situation isn’t perplexing enough, Sam receives a request to train Tabikat, a talented racehorse with elusive owners and mysterious bloodline.

With a steady pacing and solid main plot, this is a suspenseful and exciting novel basically about a fight for justice against a crime family. Aside from the main plot, the author introduces other subplots and expertly puts them together in one satisfying climax. Moreover, characters are supplied with ample backstories that it is easy to visualize them as real people with dreams, priorities, weaknesses and flaws. Furthermore, unlike other books in a series with cliffhanger endings and cases unresolved, this book ends satisfactorily enough.

However, the multiple subplots as well as the multitude of characters may be too confusing to other readers. Moreover, though I appreciate the backstories, I find them too detailed and a little overdone.

[sarah j l melville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Racing

Not
Brilliant could not put it down better than sick Francis ! I will
Definitely tell all my friends to read it.

[George Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read

Very clever how the author brought all the different histories of the subjects together and kept the reader guessing at the outcome

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the outside, it might look like Tabikat by Harriet Redfern is just about horse racing. However, it’s actually packed with crazy secrets, bad guys, and mysteries.

The book starts with a horse trainer named Sam who lives on a big farm. One day, an old friend named Frank shows up and asks Sam to give a job to a strange, quiet woman named Isabella without any explanation. Unable to refuse, Sam agrees to it. Soon, Sam finds out that Isabella is hiding a huge secret, and a scary criminal named Aleksander is looking for her because he wants revenge.

One of the things I liked about the book is the way it shows that people are not always what they seem. Isabella is a good example. When she arrives, she tells Sam almost nothing about herself. The book also has a strong theme of secrets. Almost everyone seems to be hiding something. Frank hides information from Sam. Isabella hides her real identity. Kye hides his criminal activities.

The best part of the story is the way the different mysteries connect. The ending at the big Cheltenham Gold Cup race brings all the secrets together. The author is also really good at describing places, like the foggy stable yard early in the morning or the loud, exciting racetrack packed with cheering crowds.

Tabikat is a super fun mystery. Its main message is that a horse race only lasts a few minutes, but bad choices can mess things up for years.

[Beatrice Manuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

TABIKAT is one of those books that asks you to be patient with it, and then rewards you for it. Harriet Redfern builds her story slowly, moving between a Somerset training yard, a quiet French village, and the Irish countryside, dropping threads that seem unrelated until they suddenly, satisfyingly aren't. At the center of it all is James Sampfield Peveril, a reclusive trainer whose carefully ordered world starts unraveling the moment an old friend shows up with a mysterious favor and a new employee nobody can quite figure out. The racing world detail feels lived-in rather than researched, which makes the whole thing easier to sink into.

Everyone at Sampfield Grange has their own reason to be unsettled by Isabella Hall's arrival, and watching those private anxieties play out alongside the main plot gave the book a texture that pure thrillers often skip. The subplots do pile up, and there were moments where I had to pause and sort out who was connected to whom. Some of the backstories run longer than they need to. But the payoff at Cheltenham is genuinely tense, and the book wraps up with a completeness that's rarer than it should be in series fiction.

If you go in expecting a slow burn rather than a sprint, TABIKAT delivers. It's a thriller that trusts its readers, which is not always a given.

[Antony Wairiuko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suspenseful, with Unpredictable Plot Twists

The inspiration for the cozy mystery’s title is the name of a puzzling racehorse trained in eastern Ireland; its name Tabikat sounded familiar to James, a racehorse trainer and member of the rural establishment, yet he hadn't seen the horse before.

Also, the name of the horse's owner sounded like a foreign business instead of a regional racing syndicate, while its breeder’s shortened name left many mysteries, including from records showing it had never competed outside its native country. But why had it been included in the upcoming Cheltenham Gold Cup race despite seemingly unsuited to be a runner? What about the racing tipster he had bumped into, and the talking cat from the computer?

There are lots of intrigues, including casualties, a racket, dark pasts, Tabikat suddenly owned by a dead woman amid a bomb associated with a sequence of key strokes while typing an interesting name, an assistant trainer proposal that may be anything but, a boss killed in prison amid threats, a tragic event that ended a jockey career, and a deadly race day conspiracy.

Suspenseful and with unpredictable plot twists, this commendable cozy mystery blends the adrenaline rush of a prestigious horse race with high-stakes premeditation.

[Leigh Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I grew up around horses and horse racing so I wanted to love Tabikat. Redfern does get a lot of the elements of horse racing correct, but I found that it often got bogged down in the details of horse racing without contributing to the story.

I found that at least in audiobook form Tabikat had way too many details and I found myself zoning out while listening to the audiobook and couldn't keep track of the story.

[Stef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully descriptive book - I feel like I know the characters so well, and I can’t wait to find out more about them in the sequel!!

[Harriet Redfern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's the second time I've read it, and I love Harriet's characterisation of the people in the story. And, it reminds me of lovely holidays on the Canal du Midi in the south of France. I bet I will reread it in a year or two!