Fall

Both the one-word title and the premise-that someone is killing horses in the high-stakes world of top-level horse showing-could have come from Dick Francis, but the supple language and sociological insights of Maristed's intriguing second novel (after the acclaimed Out After Dark, 1993) are very much her own. Fortyish and down on his luck, Lex Healey stumbles into both love and trouble when he takes a job as a security supervisor on the ""A"" horse-riding circuit. Valuable jumpers and equitation mounts are being killed. The horses of Erica Hablicht, the gutsy trainer whom Lex has fallen for, seem bound to be the next victims-and if they're not, Erica may be the next suspect. This plot may be familiar, and perhaps a bit tepid, but Maristed's characters are as robust as real life, from the anxiety-ridden junior hopeful to the alcoholic horse-show mother. Her insider's perspective is impressive as she compassionately describes the dramatic horse-show scene and the people who, out of love, habit, greed and desperation, make it thrive. (June)