"Sid Halley, a private investigator, has a new left hand, having had a transplant since his last appearance in Refusal. After receiving death threats, an ex-jockey trainer friend calls Sid to ask for his help, but Sid has his own problems to deal with; like recovering from surgery and saving his crumbling marriage. When his friend's stable yard is torched, horses killed, and the friend is found dead, Sid can only blame himself for not helping sooner....

Sharing the dream of being the best horsewoman in the world, Maggie Atwood and Becky McCabe, mother and daughter champion riders, break their vow of never going up against each other when they both participate in the competitions leading up to the Olympics.