When a jockey dies at the racetrack, the police soon conclude they have a murder on their hands. The jockey, Sammy Hogarth, had a cocaine habit and was to be fired but a run of luck kept him on. The autopsy reveals however that he was poisoned. They soon focus on the stables where Sammy was employed and learn that Julianne Henshaw, a one-time employee, had disappeared some time before. Kim "Posh" Spicer is now a Detective Constable and along with Supt. Dalziel and DI Pascoe find that there are clearly illegal dealings at the track, but they have several suspects including the owner of the stables, her daughter and son-in-law, a man who won the lottery and now spends almost all of his time at the track and the vet to whom Sammy had tried to speak to as he lay dying.
—garykmcd