#17 in the Milan Jacovich mystery series. The sudden death of a former client leads Milan and his young assistant K.O. O'Bannion to look behind the scenes at a harness racing track. Investigating the backstretch (as insiders call the working side of the track) they find no shortage of colorful characters and suspicious activities.

Nancy goes to the Kentucky Derby -- where death is the dark horse. When Carson Drew invests in a Derby entry called Pied Piper, Nancy and Bess fly to the big event. The favorite is Toot Sweet, but during a workout an accident nearly takes the horse's jockey out of the running. Later, while racing, the jockey takes a nasty spill, and Nancy is sure the real cause is foul play. The teen sleuth sets out to track a treacherous opponent at the world-famous Run for the Roses -- only to find she's a sure thing to hit the finish line dead last.

Nancy tries to be objective when searching out the truth about a fraternity prank that got way out of hand.

Archival snapshot of entire looseleaf Code of Massachusetts Regulations held by the Social Law Library of Massachusetts as of January 2020.

The Permanent Series will consist of biographical sketches which formerly appeared in regular volumes of Contemporary Authors ... [because] the subject of the sketch is now deceased [or] has not reported a recently published book in progress.