Cutter

Half of cutting-horse trainer Casey Brooks's stock is down with colic. Veterinarian Gail McCarthy's suspicions of poison are confirmed by lab tests. Then Casey, asking questions on the cutting-horse circuit, is thrown by his horse and killed. Gail investigates on her own and soon finds out more about bitter rivalries in the horse world than she wanted to know. City slickers content to admire horses from afar may puzzle over such terms as ``team roping'' and ``confirmation flaw,'' but they'll also learn that some horses like beer and that horse barns are best built of metal, since horses eat wood. Unfortunately, Crum is less authoritative in narrative groundwork and characterization. Casey's girlfriend is described variously as ``a Barbie doll come to life'' and ``excessively pretty in a Goldilocks kind of way,'' while Gail's ruminations about casual sex and the specter of AIDS smack irritatingly of self-consciously responsible writing. Once Crum canters into the heart of her story, however, the plot races nicely to a satisfying finish. (Aug.)