Set in the glamorous, competitive world of showjumping, a novel about the girls who ride, their cutthroat mothers, and a suspicious death at a horse show…from the author of Good Rich People
When the nouveau riche Parker family moves to an exclusive community in the heart of Southern California, they believe it’s their chance at a fresh start. Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses.
She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.
It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romances and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.
Before the summer is over, lies will turn lethal, accidents will happen, and someone will end up dead.
What’s it about (in a nutshell):
Girls and Their Horse by Eliza Jane Brazier is a dark and twisted dual murder mystery (as in the reader is not given the name of the murderer or the murdered) and domestic thriller about the equestrian world where equestrian moms make dance moms look tame in comparison.
My Reading Experience:
This story is so engrossing and compelling that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page. I even stayed up late into the night because I just had to know the identity of the victim and the identity of the murderer. I loved that I knew a murder was committed, but I didn’t know who or by whom. This technique kept me guessing from beginning to end, with so many possibilities for both.
I also found the equestrian world portrayal to be very authentic (other than the murder). Horse people are fully invested and cannot be swayed. Their passion for horses can translate in a few different ways to their children, though this story did focus on moms who wanted to relive and improve on their experiences through their children. There are also moms out there who don’t want their children to share in their passion and actively discourage it, which is an interesting mindset. (I was raised by such a mom.) I loved having the connection to the story as I felt like it enhanced my reading experience even more.
I also loved how this story was set up. The reader is told at the very beginning that a murder is going to happen and given clues (and red herrings) in the interlude chapters where a police detective is interviewing people from the equestrian center. The fact that the identity of the murderer and the victim is not known completely provides that force to make the reader want to know more and not be able to stop reading until you find out.
Characters:
Maple is 12 years old and the former victim of bullying at her previous school in Texas. She is afraid of pretty much anything and everything and only rides horses to appease her mother, Heather. Through the course of the story, she finds her backbone but goes a bit too far into a rude and bratty demeanor.
Vida is one of the girls at the stables that befriends Maple. She is 17 but small for her age and is not a nice person, almost evil at times.
Heather is Maple and Piper’s mother and wants her daughters to have the experience with horses that she always wanted but didn’t experience.
Pamela is Vida’s mother, and she is a lifetime member of the Equestrian Center. She holds a lot of secrets, and that is evident from the very beginning.
Piper is Maple’s 18-year-old sister, who stopped riding horses despite being a natural when her mother just became overbearing over it. She will be starting college in the fall and is drawn to the Equestrian Center when she realizes she has nothing to fill her time waiting for school to start.
Narration & Pacing:
The narration is in the third person, but it focuses on a different character per chapter, Maple (12 years old), Vida (17 years old), Pamela (Vida’s mother), Heather (Maple’s mother), and Piper (Maple’s adult sister). There are also chapters of Interviews by Detective Perez that start the story and happen periodically throughout, taking the reader to the present and letting us in on a murder that is going to happen. But we do not know who is going to be murdered or who the murderer is, and this dual mystery works perfectly to keep the story compelling and the pace extremely fast. As a matter of fact, I stayed up long into the night to find the identity of the victim and the perpetrator.
Setting:
Girls and Their Horses takes place in Southern California. Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian is the primary setting, and it is used perfectly. Considering how small the setting is and how focused the story stays, it is a testament to how well everything is utilized, particularly Rancho Santa Fe. That’s where all the action happens, including the murder.
Mood:
- Mysterious
- Dark
- Tense
Read if you like:
- Dark, fast-paced thrillers
- The horse world/horses
- Dual mystery thrillers
Overall Rating: (4.8) ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
| Originality | 8 |
| Writing Quality | 10 |
| Pace | 6 |
| Character Development | 8 |
| ‘Couldn’t Put It Down’-ness | 6 |
| Setting | 10 |
GIRLS AND THEIR HORSES by Eliza Jane Brazier
Berkley Hardcover | On sale June 6, 2023
Excerpt
Maple stepped into the cool shade of the breezeway. The horses stuck their heads over the doors
and watched her. One noticed the carrots and whinnied. Then they all started whinnying, pacing
around their stalls and tossing their heads. One even bucked and cantered a tight circle. They
were freaking out. It was kind of scary.
Maple had a sense, always, that something terrible was about to happen now. Right now. She
called it prophecy; her therapist called it generalized anxiety disorder.
“What are you doing?” A girl slipped out of a stall and into the aisleway.
She seemed older than Maple, but she was small and delicate. She was wearing a bright red coat,
like a girl marked for death in a horror movie. But she had the face of the killer.
“You can’t be here,” the girl continued. “Didn’t you read the signs?” She noticed the carrots. “Oh
my God! Are you giving the horses carrots? Don’t you know you can’t do that? They could have
Cushing’s disease. Or bite you. I know this girl, and her mom got her finger bitten off by their
horse, and the horse swallowed it. Seriously, I’m not fucking kidding.”
Maple dropped the heavy bag on the ground. Her whole face burned. She wanted to run, but her
legs felt weak. She was dizzy. She wished her mom were there.
Heather never seemed to be bothered by drama. In fact, she often seemed drawn to it. If there
was a kerfuffle at a restaurant, if gunshots rang out, Heather drifted steadily toward it, clutching
her purse and smiling benignly. Can I help?
“My mom-,” Maple started.
“You need to leave,” the girl said. “Seriously, you’re actually trespassing. And why are you
wearing riding clothes? It’s Monday.”
Maple burned up even more. She’d tried to warn her mother about this, when she had dressed
Maple up like a doll.
A woman who must have been the other girl’s mom appeared. She shared her daughter’s red hair.
“What are you doing here?” she said. She also shared her attitude.
“My mom’s here,” Maple said, not answering the question. “I have to go get her.” She took off
like a lunatic toward the offices. She abandoned the carrots in the barn aisle.
“Hey!” the girl yelled after her. “You can’t run around horses!”
Maple found her mom practically in the middle of breaking and entering. It would never have
occurred to Heather that the office wasn’t hers to open.
“Why are you running?” Heather asked, trying a combination on the lock. “I was thinking I could
write them a note. I think this is the main office. I’ve already left seven voice messages.”
Heather had been trying to contact this barn since before the move. Instead of giving up, she got
only more determined.
Maple was breathing hard. She was on the verge of tears. “They said we can’t be here!” Her
voice rose precipitously. “They said we’re trespassing.”
Heather perked up. “Who said that? Is someone here?”
Heather started in the direction Maple had come from, but then the red-haired woman appeared,
matching daughter in tow. When she saw Heather, she smiled so fast it was like a quick draw in
a shoot-out.
“Why, hello there!” Her eyes ran fast over Heather, like she was calculating the value of
everything she saw-Heather herself included. “I’m Pamela and this is my daughter, Vida.”
“I’m Heather. Parker. And this is my daughter Maple.”
“I was just telling your sweet girl that unfortunately this barn isn’t open to the public.” Pamela
was holding Vida’s hand, their fingers laced, like they were best friends instead of mother and
daughter.
“Oh, we’re not the public,” Heather said. They had been rich for a short amount of time, but
Heather had adjusted beautifully. “We’re here to sign up for riding lessons.”
“It’s Monday,” Pamela said. “No one comes in on Mondays. And this isn’t a lesson barn. They
don’t have school ponies or summer camps.”
Heather stepped forward, crossed her arms neatly. Since she had become rich, Maple’s mother
had changed, although not completely. The root of what she had always been was still there. But
she had become more herself.
“We just bought a house a mile from here,” Heather said, as if that had anything to do with it.
But Maple could see Pamela’s expression change. It softened a little, like the Parkers were closer
to belonging not just there but everywhere.
“How lovely! That makes us neighbors,” she said. “But I will warn you, this probably isn’t the
barn for you.”
Maple knew the woman couldn’t have tempted her mother more.
“There’s a good riding school in Olivenhain. I can give you their number.”
“No, thank you. I like this one. It’s closer to our house. I want Maple to be able to walk to the
barn if she wants to,” Heather said. As if Maple would ever walk a mile. “Would you mind
taking my number? Then you can pass it along to the owners for me. I’ve been trying to reach
them.”
“Kieran Flynn,” Pamela said like the name meant something to everyone. “He’s the owner and
the head trainer.”
Pamela clearly didn’t want to take her number, but Heather just waited. Pamela finally took out
her phone. She typed Heather’s number in quickly.
Then she added, “This is a show barn. Last year, we outperformed every barn at the Southern
California International Horse Show. We demand total commitment to the program. We’re a very
tight community. You have to have your own horses, and your horses have to be in the training
program. That means all of your rides are supervised by a trainer, and your horse is schooled by
a Professional rider. It’s really not a place for fun.”
“Good,” Heather said, taking Maple’s hand like she was aping Pamela. “We don’t want to have
fun.”
There was nothing Heather loved more than the word no.
Excerpted from Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier Copyright © 2023 by Eliza Jane Brazier.
Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved.
21 responses to “Girls and Their Horses by Eliza Jane Brazier #BookReview #Excerpt #PubDay #Thriller”
I don’t know much about the horse side of things, sounds great though, wonderful review 😊
I’m honestly not sure how it would be for someone not familiar with horses. I think still a good thriller, you just wouldn’t have that added connection.
Loved the excerpt and loved your review! I definitely want to read or listen to this one! 😀 🐴
It is definitely worth a read or listen. I loved that you knew someone was murdered but you didn’t know who or by whom. That technique worked very well!
I can just imagine the cutthroat “horse moms.” Great review!
Moms can be something. I can’t ever imagine being that way.
I’m not a horse expert, but from my kids’ sport, I can relate to the crazy moms. I like that you describe this one as dark and tense. Probably not a book I’d have picked up on my own, but now I’m intrigued. Thanks, Tessa.
It’s very good. Much different than the title and cover imply. It looks YA but it’s not at all. Berkley doesn’t even publish YA that I know of.
I didn’t care for the cover at all. But I tend to shop more on back cover copy and recommendations than I do on art.
I love that you have to work for key info, it’s a great storytelling style. Wonderful review!
It was very good storytelling!
Whoa! I looked at that cover, formed an immediate opinion and then read your review that made it clear I got it all wrong. Fantastic review, Tessa💜
It looks YA but it is not at all.
This one is set up exactly like the book I review on my site today – what a coincidence! I know next to nothing about showjumping, but I’d sure read this one. Great review, Tessa!
I will see the review of your book in just a few. I look forward to it!
Wonderful review, Tessa. I live in horse country and see riders on the trails regularly. This book sounds very interesting.
It is super compelling!
The excerpt and plot sound interesting but I’m not sure if I’ll like this. Amazing review!
I’m not sure either but it is an excellent story.
Great
[…] young girl (long story) so my first reaction to any cover with a horse on it is to move on. So when Tessa @ Tessa Talks Books featured it on her blog, her review surprised me as this was polar opposite from what I thought it […]