Fire at the Track - by M J Evans (Paperback)

About the Book

Insurance investigator Callie Oaks goes undercover at Liberty Racetrack to find who killed 28 horses in a suspicious fire. When the arsonist discovers her identity, Callie must find the truth before she becomes the next victim.

Book Synopsis

Twenty-eight horses. One deadly fire. A racetrack hiding secrets.

When a late night blaze destroys Barn 7 at Liberty Racetrack, killing twenty-eight prized Standardbred horses, authorities rule it arson. In a sport driven by money, rivalry, and reputation, suspicion spreads fast.

Insurance investigator Callie Oaks knows the fire wasn't random. A half-million-dollar policy. Crushing debt. Fractured marriages. Gambling ties. And too many people with something to lose.

Raised in the harness racing world, Callie goes undercover at the track, posing as an exercise driver to investigate the suspicious insurance claims. As she digs into the tight-knit backstretch community, she uncovers secrets worth killing for.

Someone set the fire.

Someone profited.

And when Callie gets too close to the truth, she becomes the next target.

Perfect for readers who love:

• Horse racing mysteries
• Arson investigations
• Small-town crime fiction
• Female amateur sleuth / insurance investigator thrillers
• Suspense with authentic equestrian detail

Fire at the Track is a fast-paced mystery thriller packed with insider racing drama, financial deception, and high-stakes suspense.

At Liberty Racetrack, everyone has a secret.

And one of them is a killer.

Review Quotes

"Fire at the Track pulls readers straight into the emotionally charged world of harness racing, where loyalty runs deep, money runs hot, and tragedy can strike without warning. The villain is not a caricature-it's a painfully human portrait of what happens when desperation overrides conscience. Quiet moments-like injured horses struggling to survive or grieving owners coming to terms with loss-are as powerful as the investigation itself. By the time the truth begins to surface, the novel has become about more than solving a crime." Literary Book Reviews

M.J. Evans paints a surreal picture of the devastation that accompanies the tragedy, creating a "you are here" atmosphere through descriptions that almost leap off the page...Horse-loving readers will especially appreciate the milieu of horse care, stable concerns, riding, and horse-centric activities that swirl around the murder story as they absorb how Callie connects the dots between arson and ulterior motives...The result will prove a major draw to horse lovers who enjoy a good mystery, to libraries seeking mysteries nicely grounded in a sense of place and characters that intersect on the playing field of horse racing, and to patrons who enjoy stories of suspense, intrigue, and the process of piecing together a puzzle that contains impossible quandaries. Diane Donovan, Midwest Book Reviews

Fire at the Track by M.J. Evans is loosely based on a real tragedy that occurred in 2001 and another in 2023. This is a fast-paced mystery that put me in mind of the popular Dick Francis novels based on horse racing in the UK. The characters are well developed, especially the female lead, Callie, whom you'll get to know personally. The plot has clearly been well-researched, and with enough twists so that you'll never know what's coming or who the culprit is until the end. It's got everything a good mystery story needs - action, suspense, and a bit of romance thrown in for good measure - and you'll struggle to put it down once you've started it. If you love stories based on the world of racing, especially those with a loose background in real-life cases, you'll enjoy this book. Five Stars from Reader's Favorite