The Painted Horse Murders

When Wilson's Colossal Carnival stops for a three-day run on Waller's Lot in the small town of Leatherberry Crossing, Idaho, violent death begins at its carousel. The murder weapon used: Apis mellifera scutellata Africanus-"killer" bees! Leatherberry News Editor Cally Peterson must convince Police Officer Gary Reid that the beautiful, old carousel is the key to the mystery surrounding the sudden rash of murders. Cally's certainty, however, boggles down as the murders continue with no seeming connection to one another. Yet she believes Bodan Serivitch, who is the young son of Johann Serivitch, the carousel's owner and first murder victim, is somehow deeply involved, as is the carnival roustabout, Kirtsner, who knows much more than he lets on. As the town's Fourth of July celebration approaches, extraneous, deadly fireworks are the offing.