DEAD MAN'S TOUCH (2003)
by Kit Ehrman
Fiction/Mystery / Poisoned Pen Press / hardcover / November 2003 / $24.95 / 1-59058-036-2
/ Trade Paperback / LARGE PRINT / November 2003 / $22.95
About this Guide . . .
The questions, discussion ideas, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your group’s reading and discussion of Kit Ehrman’s second mystery, DEAD MAN'S TOUCH. The author is also available to speak with your reading group via telephone if you so desire. Please email the author to schedule a phone conference.
About DEAD MAN’S TOUCH . . .
What do you do when everything you’ve held to be true, when your entire life, in fact, turns out to be a lie? When 22-year-old Steve Cline learns that he’s illegitimate, and his real father is a race- horse trainer, he heads to the Maryland track. Steve’s father recruits him to work undercover in an effort to discover who’s been doping his most promising horses, and he quickly gets caught up in the unique lifestyle inherent to the backside. But it is not a life without peril because some men are willing to do anything to get the right horse under the wire first. . .
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FOR DISCUSSION
1.What kind of mood did the author establish in the opening of DEAD MAN'S TOUCH? How did the author achieve this? How honest do you feel Steve is being with himself in regard to his father’s death?
What kind of mood did the author establish in the opening of DEAD MAN'S TOUCH? How did the author achieve this? How honest do you feel Steve is being with himself in regard to his father’s death?2.It’s been the author’s experience that strong emotions such as fear or grief often trigger a sexual response, possibly as a diversion or to relieve tension. Do you agree? Do you find Steve’s behavior after the funeral believable?
It’s been the author’s experience that strong emotions such as fear or grief often trigger a sexual response, possibly as a diversion or to relieve tension. Do you agree? Do you find Steve’s behavior after the funeral believable?3.What were your impressions of the members of Steve’s family? His deceased father? His mother? Older brother, sister? Even Parker, his mother’s personal assistant? What did his statement “Don’t let ’em get to you, Steve.” make you suspect?
What were your impressions of the members of Steve’s family? His deceased father? His mother? Older brother, sister? Even Parker, his mother’s personal assistant? What did his statement “Don’t let ’em get to you, Steve.” make you suspect? 4.How does Steve respond to various issues in his life? His father’s death? Kessler’s initial reaction to the news that he has a son? His inability to return to his old job at Foxdale?
How does Steve respond to various issues in his life? His father’s death? Kessler’s initial reaction to the news that he has a son? His inability to return to his old job at Foxdale?5.By the time the Fourth-of-July picnic rolls around, we’ve met most of the cast. The group obviously has a history together. Who stands out as a possible suspect in the dopings and why?
By the time the Fourth-of-July picnic rolls around, we’ve met most of the cast. The group obviously has a history together. Who stands out as a possible suspect in the dopings and why?6.Which secondary character did you like the most and why?
Which secondary character did you like the most and why?7.How well do you feel life on the backside was portrayed? How about the horses? Do you feel the author gave you enough information so that you could see the horses as individuals with unique personalities?
How well do you feel life on the backside was portrayed? How about the horses? Do you feel the author gave you enough information so that you could see the horses as individuals with unique personalities?8.Why do you think Abby seems so gruff, at least toward Steve? In what way do you feel growing up on the backside contributed to her personality?
Why do you think Abby seems so gruff, at least toward Steve? In what way do you feel growing up on the backside contributed to her personality?9.As Steve waits near the parade ring before Ruskie’s race, we learn a little more about his childhood and his relationship with his parents. How does Steve’s ill-fated relationship with his father effect him, and is he even aware of cause and effect?
As Steve waits near the parade ring before Ruskie’s race, we learn a little more about his childhood and his relationship with his parents. How does Steve’s ill-fated relationship with his father effect him, and is he even aware of cause and effect? 10.In writing a series, the author walks a tightrope between giving too much back story and not enough? How well do you believe Steve’s past was dealt with in this book?
In writing a series, the author walks a tightrope between giving too much back story and not enough? How well do you believe Steve’s past was dealt with in this book?11.Was the climax exciting? Was it satisfying? Believable?
Was the climax exciting? Was it satisfying? Believable?12.How do you think Steve is doing emotionally by the end of the story? How has he changed?
How do you think Steve is doing emotionally by the end of the story? How has he changed?13.Steve has his share of shortcomings, but overall, did you like him? What would you like for his future?
Steve has his share of shortcomings, but overall, did you like him? What would you like for his future?14.If DEAD MAN'S TOUCH was made into a movie, whom would you cast as Steve? Rachel? Kessler? Abby? Detective Ralston?
If DEAD MAN'S TOUCH was made into a movie, whom would you cast as Steve? Rachel? Kessler? Abby? Detective Ralston?15.What question would you most like to ask the author?
What question would you most like to ask the author?Thank you for using this guide. We hope you enjoyed DEAD MAN'S TOUCH.
from the New York Times . . .
Hidden away from the glittering stage of thoroughbred racing, with its flashing silks and gleaming horseflesh, is a place they call ''the backside.'' In her second stable mystery, DEAD MAN'S TOUCH (Poisoned Pen Press, $24.95), Kit Ehrman refers to this behind-the-scenes area -- where trainers, grooms, barn managers and stable hands minister around the clock to the needs of their high-strung charges -- as ''a world unto itself.'' Ehrman, who has worked at show barns and breeding farms, strikes a solid claim to this gritty territory with another heels-up thriller that takes up where Dick Francis left off. In the barn.
Steve Cline, the young stable hand who made such a strong and sympathetic hero in ''AT RISK,'' searches out the father he never knew, a thoroughbred trainer at a Maryland racetrack, and signs on as a ''hot-walker,'' a lowly exercise worker, when he discovers that someone has been fixing races by tampering with his father's horses. In true Francis tradition, Steve takes plenty of physical punishment as a sleuth. But his undercover role also gives him the inside track on life as it's lived on the backside, a grueling, even squalid existence that pays off in the chance to get close to the magnificent animals that have more character and heart than the two-footed fools who view them as a commodity.
Marilyn Stasio
December 28, 2003
Hardcover
ISBN: 1-59058-089-3
$24.95
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 1-59058-292-6
$14.59
LARGE PRINT
ISBN: 1-59058-090-7
$22.95
MORE REVIEWS
"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. In this chilling sequel from Ehrman, with its sensitively drawn characters and enchanting horses with unique personalities, this is sure to be a contender for the winner's circle."
~Publishers Weekly
"Ehrman's second horse whodunit . . . [with] his exceedingly likable hero . . . finishes in the money."
~Kirkus
"Ehrman is excellent at establishing a lingering sense of dread. One can almost smell the miasma of ruined dreams and sweaty despair."
~Mystery Ink
"Horses are in his [Steve's] blood, and DEAD MAN'S TOUCH is a necessary transition to what should be a lengthy and popular series."
~The Drood Review
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K i t E h r m a n . . .
SUPER FUN SITES
Columbia Horse Center is the "real-life" Foxdale Farm, Steve's base of operation.
Laurel Park Race-course is the "real-life" Washington Park in DEAD MAN'S TOUCH.
The folks at the Laurel Police Department were a big help to me regarding police procedural questions.
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