Book Master

White Horse in Winter by Franci McMahon ticked all the right boxes for me regarding genre. I love horse, mysteries and have a thing for enjoying LGBT.

An unusual mixture, you might think. Yet, it works quite well. The crime is murder (of a horse and its owner.) No professional investigators here; just amatuer sleuthing at its best.

To begin with, I found the relationship dynamics of the 3 main characters, a bit confusing. Long distance relationships, homophobia and serious trust issues all take their place in Franci McMahon's novel. In that respect, it's very true of today. It's shameful that there is homophobia still around, for example.

White Horse In Winter, is the second book in a series. So I've come a little late to the party. Would it have made it more enjoyable? Perhaps and it would explain why I felt just a touch confused to begin with.

The question is: Does this book stand up okay on its own? I would say, yes. It doesn't take long to catch up with things at all. Description in some areas could have been better but then our readers just may not see things the way we do. Creatives are not called 'odd' for nothing :)

Whilst homophobia is part of this novel, I got a little annoyed with the characters mainly sticking to 'their own'. That would give credence to the fact that maybe there is something to be ashamed of. With regards to the murder, motive is a strong factor here rather than a 'serial killer' type crime. Discovering the reasons behind this crime turned out to be more interesting than figuring out who the culprit was.

I enjoyed White Horse In Winter but I would have enjoyed it a lot more, if I'd read the one before: Night Mare.