Dying To Win: Happy Hollow Cozy Mystery Series, #1

By Eve Craig

This book is a clean Cozy Mystery short story that does not contain any foul language, sexual situations, witches, or paranormal events.

 

Holly Bridges had always dreamed of having her own stable. While out for a drive in the country, she found a farm with a large indoor arena and several outdoor arenas.  Even though it looked like it hadn't been used in years, it was the perfect location for holding equestrian shows and stabling horses.

 

Shortly after opening, Holly managed to acquire a prominent local's horse as her first boarder.  With the new tenant it looked like Happy Hollow Stable's first equestrian show could be a huge draw for the locals. Well, that is until a dead body showed up in a nearby field.

 

Will the show go on or will Holly have to give up her lifelong dream?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cozy Mystery Press
• Release date: Sep 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386092575

Book preview

Chapter One

Holly Bridges jumped out of her truck and eagerly loped around it to shake hands with the real estate agent. Thanks for meeting me on such short notice.

The realtor, Mrs. Hudgins, nodded her curly gray head and smiled. It’s no problem. I was just surprised to have someone interested in this place. She fiddled with a set of keys as they approached the big barn door.

Really? As she had come up the long driveway to the stable, Holly had already been impressed with the place. All the pastures were lined with beautiful white fencing. The barn had an attached indoor arena as well as several outdoor arenas. Whoever had originally built the place had put some money into it.

Oh, yes. Mrs. Hudgins put the key in the lock, tried to turn it, and then grabbed a different key when it didn’t work. A big place like this isn’t the kind of thing that just anybody goes for. You are serious about renting it, aren’t you? She glanced over her shoulder at Holly.

Absolutely! It had always been a dream to start a stable of her own. She’d been in several horse shows as a child and then had gone on to compete on her university’s equestrian team. Though she had thought her riding career had been over upon graduation, she quickly found that she wasn’t going to be able to stay away from the sport forever.

Mrs. Hudgins managed to get the rusty lock working and shoved open the big door. Groping in the darkness, she found the light switch and then wiped her hand off on her skirt suit. This building has thirty stalls and an indoor arena. She flipped another switch.

Lights came on down a long center aisle way. The stalls on the left were covered in dusty cobwebs, and several of them still had old bits of deteriorating tack hanging from the hooks on the doors. The dirt floor of the arena was nothing but mud in a few spots where rain had leaked in. The gate that lead to it hung limply on its hinges.

The owner would like to offer complete control of the space in exchange for the rental fee. That means that you don’t have to ask to make any changes to the property. He simply doesn’t want to have to deal with it anymore.

Holly’s mind was already churning with ideas. The stable was going to take a lot of work; there was no debate about that. She would have to spend all her evenings and weekends scrubbing, dusting, repainting, and repairing. Between the normal daily operations of a stable and fixing the place up, she would be constantly busy. She couldn’t wait.

Mrs. Hudgins’ sensible shoes made soft thuds on the concrete floor of the aisle as they strolled past the stalls. As I’m sure you noticed, there are quite a few pastures and paddocks available for your use. Everything inside the fences comes with the place. The rest of the surrounding real estate is farmland.

Holly nodded. So, no real neighbors. Nice. There would be no loud trucks or barking dogs to disturb the peace and the horses.

The agent tipped her