A century ago, horses were ubiquitous in America. They plowed the fields, transported people and goods within and between cities and herded livestock. About a million of them were shipped overseas to serve in World War I. Equine related industries employed vast numbers of stable workers, farriers, wainwrights, harness makers and teamsters. Cities were ringed with fodder-producing farmland, and five-story stables occupied prime real estate in Manhattan. Then, in just a few decades, the horses vanished in a wave of emerging technologies. Those technologies fostered unprecedented economic growth, and with it a culture of recreation and leisure that opened a new place for the horse as an athletic teammate and social companion.

Madilyn Elliott is a typical American stay-at-home mother. Before the invasion of Iraq, Madilyn’s husband accepts a top secret expatriate mission in Rome, Italy. ZAP, a multibilliondollar civilian defense contractor and the USA State Department require Madilyn to sign a contract not to work, not to start a business, and not to buy a home. At the start of the Iraq war, Madilyn defends her son against almost getting kidnapped amidst the War on Terror in a NATO Country. Madilyn perseveres and falls in love with Bella Italia. She starts to discover roots of history, theology, and art. Dario, a beautiful Italian architect, swoons Madilyn over Italy’s best bottles of wine. Madilyn’s father was meeting with VIP foreign generals from around the world. When Madilyn’s romantic love affair is discovered, she is locked up in mental asylums to protect the secrets of global business and foreign generals.

Someone is stealing Morgan Moress fancy model horses, and her last hope is Maxwell Masters, newbie detective. He made a name for himself when he discovered who defaced Destiny Romans locker at school. Now, Maxwell and Destiny are partnersbut are they good enough to solve a mystery that has even the professionals stumped? Not only have Morgans expensive, model horses been stolen, but she also received a threatening letter, warning her not to attend the Syracuse International Horse Show in June. Maxwell doesnt really approve of the unsavory character she has chosen to protect her, but he takes her caseand is quickly in way over his head! A couple ends up murdered; another woman is injured. The stakes are high, and Maxwell starts to doubt his own sleuthing abilities. Can he catch the culprit before someone else gets hurt? Time is running outand only Maxwell Masters can find Morgans model horses and save the day.

Wellington added a Judge-Advocate-General to his staff in 1812 “to ensure that courts-martial were conducted with proper forms and due appreciation of the validity of evidence – in which the commander-in-chief considered that they had often failed . . . Larpent, who has left an interesting diary of his duties and his personal adventures [he was captured briefly in 1813 but immediately exchanged], discharged the function of this office . . . down to the end of the war” (Oman, Wellington’s Army pp. 159–160). “When in the Peninsula, Larpent wrote descriptive letters to his stepmother, Anna Margaretta Larpent. Publication of this important first-hand account of Wellington’s headquarters was deferred until after Wellington’s death. The letters were edited, with a biographical preface by Larpent’s half-brother, Sir George Larpent, first baronet (1786–1855), in 1853 and passed through three editions in the same year” (Oxford DNB). Author — Larpent, F. Seymour 1776-1845. Editor — Larpent, George, Sir, 1786-1855. Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London: R. Bentley, 1853. Original Page Count – 296 pages.