A Distance to Death

Tink Elledge #2

by Holly Menino

Tink Elledge is back in the saddle—and in more danger than ever. The race is a hundred miles through the Sierra Nevada against a backdrop of Darwin, evolution, and intelligent design. Smart, deftly plotted, and tuned to ongoing debate, this mystery is perfect for fans of Dick Francis.

Tink Elledge is a woman who doesn't take well to sitting still—not when it comes to husbands, not when it comes to looking after her stepson Stephen, and certainly not when it comes to horses. So when she gets the chance to ride in a competition again—even on a trail as grueling as the steep twists and turns of the legendary Tevis endurance trail ride—she jumps at it. In the Sierra mountain wilderness, she and her friend Isabel—an avid horsewoman and Darwin devotee--will race across one hundred miles of spectacular gorges and cross heart-stopping fords.?

Meanwhile, Stephen and Tink's husband, Charlie, are nearby working on a new partnership with the brilliant but secretive scientist James Grant-Worthington. When Grant-Worthington suddenly dies of not-so-natural causes, the entire deal is thrown into question. Eager to help, Tink begins searching for clues, starting with Josh Untemeyer, the PR manager for the institute Grant-Worthington founded to promote the theory of intelligent design, who has also been pursuing Isabel. As Tink and Isabel join the pack of elite riders and their horses scramble up the vertiginous, narrow trail, Josh goes missing. Tink must sort through the secrets and lies in a race against time to cross the finish line and save the two people she cares for most in this lively, page-turning novel from acclaimed author Holly Menino.

Genres: Mystery

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2014

About the author

HOLLY MENINO grew up in a small Ohio college town, where her passionate interest in animals showed itself by age three, about ten years before she heard the calling to become a writer. A graduate of Smith College, she has worked in both scholarly and popular publishing. She now lives on a farm in the Finger Lakes region of New York and publishes both fiction and nonfiction.

Reviews

[Sarah B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had been really excited when I first saw this horse book on the website for my library and read the little short description. I had thought it sounded like a fun adventure story about a few women going on a very long and possibly dangerous horse ride. And the ride was a race too! So when the books had arrived I read this one pretty quickly...

But it turned out to be awful!!

This was not an adventure story at all. It's some kind of mystery but even at that it fails. I just found much of the book very confusing! There are sentences that don't make sense and then there are other very confusing ones that start with "him" or "her" but you don't know which Him or Her the sentence is actually referring to! And I think that is inexcusable. Someone should have proof read this book.

Then there is another type of confusion in here. As I was reading along the characters were making statements like "James had lied"... And I felt that I should have known by this point what James had lied about, but I had no idea! And that's not a good feeling. So I go back and read the previous few pages and I still don't see anything stating what it was that he had lied about.

Also this book had NO suspense at all.. there is no snooping or poking their nose into stuff like you see in many mysteries. Most of the plot is characters blabbing about some confusing business deal that I did not understand or really care about! I chose to read this book for the long trail ride, for the horses!

But the horses are like an afterthought. And by page 205 the long trail ride didn't even start yet and this book only has 274 pages! So that's just awful! There is a bit of horsey stuff before that but not enough in my opinion.

This book is boring! All business chat!

The only good thing in here is that I learned about the Tevis Cup, which I read about online and saw photos.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horse themed mystery, can’t go wrong with that! Lol

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

A library find. November 2024.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

She'd rather be eventing, but after an injury Tink Elledge accepts her friend Isabel's offer to ride one of her horses in the Tevis Endurance race. They're acclimating the horses to a higher altitude in the Sierra Nevadas when Tink learns that a friend of her husband's has died in a neighboring institute, which he was funding. The death was shocking enough, but even moreso is the institute (they hadn't known he was interested in religion) and the fact that his partner was a much younger woman. Tink's husband and step-son arrive, and she's shocked to learn that the real estate man working on the planned purchase of a pharmaceutical company is her first husband, whom she hasn't seen in thirty years. There's a lot more plot to come, but basically you will learn a lot about horses and the Tevis.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume in the Tink Elledge mystery series was a delight to read, continuing Tink’s story but also introducing a number of fascinating new characters, including that of the horse Owen. This book has a very intricate plot, set against the backdrop of the Tevis endurance trail ride in Sierra, Nevada. In addition to the trail ride, magnificently described so you feel you are right there on the horse, the reader learns about Darwinism vs. creationism, charitable organizations, tax evasion, and even how to count cards at a casino. All of this is well crafted and keeps you totally engaged in what is happening, leading to the unexpected and exciting climax. I look forward to the next story about Tink and her family, her horses, and her friends.

[Lance Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

The murder mystery here is a little thin, though the characters are generally interesting and the mountain setting nearly ideal. However, without a compelling crime plot to draw readers in and keep them engaged, this is an easy book to put down and possibly forget to pick back up again. Read our full review, here: http://www.mysteriousreviews.com/myst...

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story. I would recommend this to anyone who likes horses, but I did get tripped up more than a couple of times due to glaring grammatical errors. Some basic editing would have made this book so much better!

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love horse stories, but this one was just not good enough.

[Marg Corjay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixture of Rita Mae Brown and Dick Francis, a soft mystery that has enough suspense to keep you interested. Believeable characters and distance racing info.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

mystery .Contemporary.Good story. Horse endurance race, Tink Elledge (#2) I haven't read #1. My interest..zero knowledge of horses..long time friend who owns, breeds, and races quarter horses.