Carolyn Banks
Death by Dressage (Sapere Books, 2022)
A Horse to Die For (Sapere Books, 2022)
Death on the Diagonal (Sapere Books, 2022)
Groomed for Death (Sapere Books, 2022)
Murder Well-Bred (Sapere Books, 2022)
Carolyn Banks has written everything from novels to newspaper articles, including screenplays and short stories in between. Her five comic equestrian mysteries, originally published in the late 1990s, were reprinted in July 2022 by Sapere Books.
books by Carolyn Banks
Death by Dressage (Sapere Books, 2022)
A tense equestrian murder mystery! Perfect for fans of Dick Francis, Leigh Hearon, Mary Monica Pulver and Laura Crum.
Everyone thinks Nika was killed by a horse. Can Robin uncover the truth?
Texas, 1990s
Horse-mad Robin Vaughan leads a cosy existence in Austin, Texas with her husband, food writer Jeet. The most exciting thing she gets up to most days is practising her dressage moves on her headstrong mare, Plum … and that’s exactly how Robin likes it.
But when wealthy superbitch Veronika Ballinger is found dead, Robin suspects foul play. Everyone’s saying Nika was kicked to death by a horse … but could Nika’s influential but sinister husband Ron, or her long-suffering groom Suzie, know more about the tragedy than they’re letting on?
And Nika was a terrible rider, so what's the story behind her strange friendship with dressage superstar Katerina Schwetman?
A self-confessed born interrogator, Robin resolves to find out the truth. But as she delves into the secrets of Nika’s past, some shocking truths are revealed…
Could Robin be riding headlong into mortal danger? Is she getting closer to the truth, or simply flogging a dead horse?
And can she expose Nika’s killer before someone silences her for good?
With a plot full of twists and turns and a wryly humorous narrator, DEATH BY DRESSAGE is the first in a series of gripping equestrian thrillers that will appeal to horse lovers and mystery fiends alike.
PRAISE
‘Banks’s technique … is as sharp as any killer’s knife blade.’ – The New York Times
‘Crisply flip dialogue is her métier.’ – Los Angeles Times
A Horse to Die For (Sapere Books, 2022)
A festive equestrian mystery! Perfect for fans of Dick Francis, Leigh Hearon, Mary Monica Pulver and Laura Crum.
Noel is a horse to die for … but will he be the death of Robin’s best friend?
Texas, 1990s
Christmas is coming. The season of peace, goodwill, and – for Robin Vaughan – another mystery to solve.
Her best friend Lola’s received the perfect Christmas gift in the shape of the beautiful dressage horse Noel. But Robin has the oddest feeling that she’s seen Noel before…
Lola’s horse bears an uncanny resemblance to eccentric heiress Louanne Perry’s horse Wickie. But Wickie’s dead … and he died while in Robin’s care. Didn’t he?
But more alarming still is the discovery that Noel (or Wickie) killed his last owner…
A worried Robin decides to investigate. When she tracks down Louanne’s vet, the sinister Ornell Standish, the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place … and soon she’s uncovered a subterfuge that’s so bizarre she can scarcely believe it.
Throw a kitchen disaster, a lightning dash to Los Angeles and a spirited Jack Russell puppy into the mix, and this Christmas is looking set to be one Robin will never forget…
But is Robin kidding herself that Wickie could still be alive? And what’s behind her friend’s sudden coldness towards her?
And if Lola won’t talk to her, how can Robin warn her about the danger she’s in?
Death on the Diagonal (Sapere Books, 2022)
Can Robin uncover the murderous secrets of a sleepy small town?
Texas, 1990s
Bead, Texas, is a one-horse town if ever there was one. Or at least that’s what Robin Vaughan thinks when she and her husband Jeet travel there for the funeral of Jeet’s old friend Townsend ‘Towns’ Loving, the editor of Bead’s local newspaper.
So when Towns’s widow Della asks Jeet to stay on as temporary editor, Robin isn’t exactly jumping for joy.
But Bead isn’t quite the sleepy backwater it seems, and soon Robin’s caught up in a bizarre chain of events including being imprisoned in a sweltering hot trailer and accidentally stumbling on to a film set.
And along the way she makes a discovery that leads her to question the police’s account of what happened to Towns…
Was Townsend Loving’s death really accidental? How did such a good-hearted man come to have so many enemies in Bead?
And can Robin discover the truth without becoming murder victim number two?
Groomed for Death (Sapere Books, 2022)
An exciting equestrian murder mystery! Perfect for fans of Dick Francis, Leigh Hearon, Mary Monica Pulver and Laura Crum.
Alone in New York City, can Robin bring Flora’s killer to justice?
Manhattan, 1990s
Texas equestrian Robin Vaughan has barely had time to catch her breath after exposing a killer before she’s off on another adventure, this time in the Big Apple with her husband Jeet.
Robin’s promised Jeet she won’t get caught up in any more drama. But when she meets quirky groom Flora Benavides, she’s amazed to discover a fully-fledged riding stable – the Claremont Riding Academy – smack in the middle of Manhattan.
And when she learns that someone’s been cutting off horses’ tails and selling them to the textile industry, she can’t just stand by and do nothing … can she?
Despite Jeet’s pleas, Robin finds herself being drawn into Flora’s quest to end this cruel practice. But when Flora falls to her death from a hotel window — and Jeet is wrongfully arrested for killing her —exposing the horsehair thieves is the last thing on Robin’s mind...
Can Robin expose Flora’s real killerand end an animal-rights outrage, all in twenty-four hours?
And can she convince the police her husband is an innocent man?
Told with Robin’s trademark humor, GROOMED FOR DEATH is an exhilarating tale of murder, mayhem and mistaken identity in the city that never sleeps.
Murder Well-Bred (Sapere Books, 2022)
A nail-biting equestrian murder mystery set under the Mexican sun! Perfect for fans of Dick Francis, Leigh Hearon, Mary Monica Pulver and Laura Crum.
Can Robin rely on her horse sense when she stumbles on a deadly secret?
Mexico, 1990s
When horse-crazy Robin Vaughan accompanies her husband Jeet on a culinary tour of San Miguel de Allende, she’s looking forward to dabbling in journalism herself.
But her interview with dressage maestro Hans Bell is a disaster. And when Robin runs into Marilee Hart, an old Texas acquaintance – now running the beautiful ranch Milagro – she soon realises she’s uncovered a far darker story. For there’s something very unusual about the horses of Milagro…
And when Marilee is shot dead, it seems someone will go to any lengths to protect the secret.
Can Robin solve the mystery or will she meet the same fate as Marilee? And has Jeet really been kidnapped, or has Robin got the wrong end of the stick again?
With a gunman on the loose and a severe stomach bug to contend with, can Robin emerge with her life – and dignity – intact?
The third equestrian story to feature the engaging Robin Vaughan, MURDER WELL-BRED is a gripping mystery told with Carolyn Banks’s trademark humor.