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Deadfall by Lyndon Stacey. Hutchinson, London. Distributed by Rupa. Pages 389. £ 6.60.
The son of a viscount, heir to the large estate where he is on probation as a manager, Lincoln Tremayne wants to make it to the British Olympic team. His father frowns on his ambition as well as his other activities. One terrible night, on way to the stables, his car is hit. Shaken, he arrives at the stables only to find the daughter of the stable owner — a vicar — beaten unconscious by thieves who have looted the tackroom. When Lincoln tries to track the assailants, he finds, to his horror, that they are out to kill him as such heists are a regular business and part of a huge racket. Even as he and the law catch up with the criminals, Lincoln discovers that his ex-girlfriend, now his younger brother’s wife, has an eye on the estate and the title he would inherit; and would stop at nothing to get these. Crime, passion, love, romance, greed, ambition and jealousy — all add up to a captivating page-turner. Stacey knows her horses, and the human beings involved with horses, she knows better. With the caressing fondness of an artist first sketching and then sculpting a portrait, she brings her characters to life; unraveling their personality and attributes as they emerge through relationships, situations, crises and moments of trial and terror. They are perfectly placed in the intricate weavings of her plot that never flags for a moment. Her style — of both rendering and peeling off the many-layered mystery — is gripping. The settings, the conversations and comings, goings and doings of her characters — not just horse owners, riders, grooms and saddle thieves but horses too — are authentic. The animals, be they horses or dogs too acquire almost-human attributes. The drama, especially the movements and interactions with all their subtleties are tightly scripted. — S.R. |
MENTION
a horse-related thriller and those familiar with such fiction are most
likely to recall the novels of Dick Francis. Without doubt, his racing
mysteries are classics, and Lyndon Stacey will have to live with her
novels being compared to those written by Francis. That can’t be
helped. Her novels too revolve around horses but her preoccupation is
with the lives of the people in the world of eventing and show-jumping
in England.