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Cold Burn    by Kit Ehrman Amazon.com order for
Cold Burn
by Kit Ehrman
Order:  USA  Can
Poisoned Pen, 2005 (2005)
Hardcover
* *   Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth

This third in Kit Ehrman's Steve Cline mystery series is another winner. Although Cold Burn gets off to a slow start, once the action picks up it never slows down.

When Steve Cline is approached by a friend to help find her brother, he's already thinking of making a change. Since Steve has been working at hunter/jumper show barns, moving to a thoroughbred-breeding farm seems like a lateral move, though one with potential for new interests. But Steve finds more to do than simply locate the man who mysteriously disappeared from his job at the breeding farm. He steps into a morass of illegal breeding practices, dope dealing, a pyromaniac, and jealousy over a woman with questionable actions.

Steve also manages to get beaten up a time or two while his girlfriend Rachel rails at his seeming unconcern for his own safety. The backside view of the horse breeding business is fascinating – but might be a tad much for the squeamish. The dénouement is enough to keep the reader awake for many nights to come. Action pours off the pages with wonderful abandon as all works out for the best. Well, maybe for the best. But for whom?

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