Bruised in body and psyche from his adventures in At Risk, 22-year-old Steve Cline gets another blow in Dead Man's Touch: the sudden death of his estranged father. But at the funeral, Steve learns that his real father, horse trainer Christopher J. Kessler, is very much alive. Curious, Steve heads for the Maryland track to find Kessler. When Kessler learns that he's a father and Steve is his son, he recruits Steve to work undercover at his training barn to discover who's been doping the most promising horses. Steve settles in and is soon caught up in the unique lifestyle inherent to the "backside." But it is not a life without peril-some men are willing to do anything to get the right horse under the wire first. When a young woman is found dead in a horse's stall, Steve becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Steve must discover the ringleader's identity to keep from being put in jail...or worse, in the ground. "Kit Ehrman has created a driven, principled character and puts him into situations where he must fight for the moral high ground" -The Denver Post "From the labor-intensive work in the oppressive heat of a Maryland summer to the cockroach-infested living quarters of the help, Ehrman creates an authentic and vivid picture of the reality behind the glamour of the races." -Publishers Weekly Kit Ehrman lives and writes on a horse farm near Columbus, Indiana. The second Steve Cline Mystery, Dead Man's Touch follows At Risk and is followed by Cold Burn and Triple Cross. www.kitehrman.com