Murder at the Racetrack: Original Tales of Mystery and Mayhem Down the Final Stretch from Today's Great Writers

by Otto Penzler

Lawrence Block, in Keller by a Nose," asks what obsession holds more hazards than betting on the ponies. The answer will surprise you...Max Allan Collins's "That Kind of Nag" proves that it's bad to play the wrong horse, but worse to pick the wrong woman..."The Great, the Good and the Not-So-Good" by H.R.F. Keating warns against old English ladies at the racecourse...Joyce Carol Oates shows how a young woman teams to trust a prize stallion more than her violent lover in "Meadowlands"...and Scott Wolven's "Pinwheel" offers a Japanese lesson in flying horses and honor among thieves."--BOOK JACKET.

Genres: Anthologies, Mystery

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 10, 2006

About the author

Otto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.

Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.

Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.

Reviews

[Lisa]

3.5 stars. These stories were hit-or-miss, with 2-3 real standouts, 3-4 real duds, and the rest rather enjoyable. As a horse lover and a very casual fan of racing, I really enjoyed the insights this book provided into this world, both the gambling and the horse/racing sides. Fun and sometimes fascinating.

[Brian]

Bigger pages and you could just about wrap fish.

[Gail]

Anthology of mystery and mayhem loosely connected to horseracing. I liked one. The others were mostly too dark for me.

[Charles Fischer]

I usually like these mystery/anthology anthologies, but this one was very underwhelming.

[Rena Sherwood]

I figured that this would be good for a laugh. None of the writers here are known for racing stories, and so I figured there would be lots of errors about racing ... and I was right. Thoroughbreds appear sporting colors very rare or nearly nonexistent for the breed, horses eat treats they really shouldn't, race terms are mixed up, etc.

I went into this knowing there would be very little about horses in it. Writers for grown-ups rarely write about horses -- even Dick Francis. They write about people, fashion, crime -- you know, basically everything orbiting a track except the horses.

But I did think that an anthology classified as mystery-suspense would have a lot more mystery and suspense in it.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Editor. Whatever.
* "Keller By a Nose" by Lawrence Bloch. A hit man with a passion for collecting stamps is given the racing tip of his life. Only problem in this gripping and unusual story -- piebald Thoroughbreds are too rare to race.
* "The Return of the Thin White Dude ... Screaming" by Ken Bruen. With a title like that, I was hoping this would have something to do with David Bowie. Fortunately, it does.
* "Zuppe Inglese" by Jan Burke. This novella is the longest selection in the book, and is (unfortunately) predictable, but does contain a few facts about racing.
* "Yellow Mama's Long Weekend" by Lorenzo Caracetta. Although an unpredictable story about a trainer with gambling addiction, it is marred by a few factual errors about racing -- and a rather unbelievable ending.
* "That Kind of Nag" by Max Allen Collins. This is a Nathan Heller story. Although this is a complete story in and if itself, it was annoying to read references to the novels. Set in 1945, it deals with an actual murder case in Chicago. And yes -- there used to be a Washington Park in Chicago.
* "The Odds" by Thomas H. Cook. A weird old recluse looks back on his life just before he dies. Very arty story, but not much in the way of a plot. Some nice descriptions of horses, both real and imagined.
* "The Hustle" by Pat Jordan. Another old guy about to die story, but racing only gets a quick mention. Also, there isn't any murder here. It's mostly a character sketch. Also, there never was such a race as the Flamingo Derby.
* "The Great, the Good, and the Not-So-Good" by H. R. F. Keating. Set in the town where Goodwood is located, this is an annoying story about seven old English ladies taking down a betting scam. There's a nod to the classic Sherlock Holmes story, "Silver Blaze".
* "The Cover Story is Always a Lie" by John Lescroart. A laid off cop finds new reason to live after going to a funeral ... and learning that the deceased's friend was murdered in 1974 -- a cold case. It wasn't too hard to figure out whodunnit, though.
* "Raindancer" by Michael Malone. This is written like a classic horse story rather than a mystery or suspense story. There are some things Malone did get right about racing ... but then again, there are the wrong things. Second place horses are routinely drug tested, especially after stakes races. No kid can just wander onto a Bluegrass farm. Three year old entire male horses are called colts, not stallions.
* "The Long Shot" by Michele Martinez. This is a people thriller, set at Belmont. Nothing about horses or racing, though. Belmont's just a backdrop.
* "Meadowlands" by Joyce Carol Oates. Yes -- that Joyce Carol Oates. Set in 1988. Not sure why this was set in 1988. Predictable stuff, and not with a proper ending.
* "Hotwalking" by Julie Smith. Never piss off a vet if you own a racehorse. Although it looked as if the author did some homework about race fixing, the lack of empathy for animals by our veterinarian narrator was harsh.
* "Pinwheel" by Scott Wolven. Oh, that was absolutely ridiculous. Don't even bother with this one.