A new mystery novel for horse racing aficionados has hit the bookshelves. Revelation of the Black Horse is the sequel to T. Lawrence Davis’s first mystery offering, The Pale Horse, and tells the story of Martha Henry, a Canadian serial killer who has moved to the English seaside town of Salcombe to escape her demons. She discovers a body in the lane where she lives, and her past and present begin to collide when Canadian racetrack vet Larry Potter and his wife, Detective Jenna Lawson, arrive in the UK on vacation and fate brings them together again.
Born in Montreal, Quebec, T. Lawrence Davis grew up around horses. As a teenager, he spent summers working at racetracks in Canada and the US as a groom and on his late mother’s Thoroughbred farm, which he later ran. Davis ultimately found his niche as a journalist, and was the managing editor of Canadian Thoroughbred magazine from 1986-88. He lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, with his wife, Sandra, and their Westies, Geordie and Bonnie.
Read an exclusive excerpt of Revelation of the Black Horse:
Looking back on those days now, Larry wondered at his actions. He’d been kidnapped, severely burned and nearly killed. All his efforts had achieved, in reality, was to lead the police to Geoffrey Brown. Brown had committed suicide. His apparent confession had been enough to convince the police that he’d murdered Clement Montgomery and two other men. But having had time to ponder, Larry had his doubts.
Horrible thoughts of what Trish may have done played in ghost-like images at the edges of Larry’s consciousness. Then he felt Jenna stir beside him, bringing him back to reality.
Jenna woke a few minutes later. She looked rested, a bit more herself than she had when they’d pulled into the B&B.
“I need a shower, and to brush my teeth,” she said. “Then I’m game for a walk and a bit of late lunch if you feel up to it.”
While he waited for Jenna to finish in the bathroom, Larry picked up the newspaper he’d carried with him off the plane and, moving to the wing chair in the corner of the room, opened it to the article reporting on the Salcombe murder trial. He looked again at the photo of the packed courtroom. At the face of the woman who might be Trish Montgomery. Then he read the accompanying article.
It had to be her. The details of the murder were so similar to those of the Ontario and New York killings that Brown had supposedly committed. But Brown was dead, and Trish Montgomery was not.
If she was in Plymouth, Larry would find her. He wanted to know the truth.
***
“Writing Revelation took me down an unexpected path,” said Davis. “The villain from my first novel seized the plot and my keyboard, forcing me to retell her story through her eyes and memories. I’d set out to write a horseracing murder mystery, but the book quickly developed into so much more than that – from a courtroom drama to a consideration of sexual abuse, and whether the sins of a father can be enough to absolve the crimes of a child.”
Davis drew on his memories of a trip to Devon in the ‘90s to set the mystery in Salcombe and Kingsbridge. Places and events he and his wife experienced during that visit are recalled in the narrative, from the peace and beauty they found walking along the estuary path to the challenges of sharing narrow local roads with drivers who’d clearly had their fill of tourists.
Revelation of the Black Horse, published by Eighth Pole Books, is available from major online retailers including Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Booktopia, as an ebook and in paperback. More information at www.tlawrencedavis.ca
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