Devil Dancer

by William Heath

A prized stallion shows up shot on the grounds of a wealthy Kentucky horse farm. A middle-aged detective who has plenty of heartaches of his own, learns the stories of a wide array of characters, from the bluegrass area aristocracy, to outcasts living in ghettoes and hanging around in an unforgetable place called the Mecca Bar. A great read, I highly recommend it!

Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

1737-1814

Reviews

[Humbert]

Original, moving, and well written. A cut above most detective fiction available these days. I highly recommend it, not only to mystery buffs but to anybody looking for a good read.

I subscribe to Publishers Weekly. Here's their review of this novel:

"When Wendell had turned forty several years before, one of his friends had quipped: 'You're on the back nine now.' That was how he felt, sweating in the mid-afternoon heat, exhausted and ineffectual, as if he had been hiking up endless fairways beneath a relentless sun and three-putting every green." Meet Wendell Clay, a war veteran and detective who offers his assistance in the mysterious case of a prize horse--the titular Devil Dancer--that turs up dead. In this entertaining novel, Heath delivers a fascinating and well-crafted tale that takes the mystery of the noir genre and injects it into Kentucky circa the sweltering summer of 1972. Wendell's investigation proves to be a good old-fashioned barn burner as a cast of rather colorful characters stumble into view the deeper he gets, leading to a rousing climax."

[Karen Sootsman]

Wonderful book! I know the author, Wilma Angus, who will be 100 years old in October. I can’t wait to read the sequel to find out how her relationship evolved with her abusive mother and horrible sister, June. This book reminds me a little of The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.