Thompson's sixth "Counterfeit Lady" mystery (following City of Shadows) is an entertaining, delightful caper novel with twist after twist. Elizabeth Miles Bates has tried to give up her life as a con artist, but sometimes she has to help someone. She and her lawyer husband, Gideon, are invited to the Belmont Stakes by one of his clients, Sebastian Nolan. There they meet his daughter, Irene, who has been worried about their horse, Trench. Trench stops dead in the middle of his race, leaving his jockey, Cal Regan, with a career-ending injury. Trench had been tampered with, and both Irene and Sebastian suspect her father's longtime enemy. When Elizabeth realizes that Irene loves Cal, and is pregnant, she knows her father will never allow his daughter to marry a jockey with no prospects. So Elizabeth hatches a scheme to avenge the sabotage while getting money for Irene and Cal. She enlists her father's help in finding a suitable woman to run a marriage scam, a woman who already has plans to dupe the greedy men of New York society. VERDICT Captivating characters, such as Elizabeth and her mother-in-law, sparkle in this refreshing and amusing con narrative.--Lesa Holstine

Set in 1919, Thompson's entertaining sixth Counterfeit Lady mystery (after 2021's City of Shadows) opens with New York City lawyer Gideon Bates agreeing to attend a horse race at Belmont Park at the invitation of a client, Sebastian Nolan, the owner of a small racing stable. Nolan wants Gideon to bring his wife, Elizabeth, and his upper-crust mother to help put some polish on his motherless grown daughter, Irene, who's more interested in horse racing than society. The race turns to tragedy when Nolan's prize horse, Trench, stumbles and the jockey, Cal Regan, is seriously injured in what appears to have been no accident. It turns out Trench was secretly "sponged" so he would falter. Elizabeth takes an interest in the respective fates of Cal and Irene, with whom she becomes friends, and to right a series of wrongs, she helps set up an elaborate con game. The con revolves around a mysterious woman who has come to New York and as a supposed rich Spanish widow steals the show at a series of fancy dinner parties. The light and humorous plot is matched by descriptions of a glamorous city that seems more Gilded Age than post-WWI. This entry should win Thompson new fans. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary. (Dec.)

A society lady's past as a con artist helps right a wrong involving racehorses and grifting. Gideon Bates may be an attorney from a society family, but his wife, Elizabeth, comes from a family of grifters. She hasn't put her past entirely behind her but only uses her talents to help people. When racehorse owner Sebastian Nolan hires Gideon to help him arrange a dowry for his 23-year-old daughter, Irene, in order to help her find a suitable husband, he invites Gideon and his family to watch the Belmont Stakes from his box. Irene, the driving force behind Nolan's stable, is devastated when jockey Cal Regan, whom she loves, is first the victim of a dirty racetrack trick and then is badly injured when Irene's favorite horse, Trench, collapses during his race. Meanwhile, the Bates family hears the story of how Daniel Livingston, another horse owner, was once engaged to Irene's long-dead mother, Mary, who left him for Nolan, creating a lifelong feud between the two. Both men are gobsmacked when they see a woman at the track who looks just like their lost love accompanied by Elizabeth's father, a grifter known as the Old Man. Though Irene is pregnant, she hasn't told Cal, who's too proud to marry her without money. So the kindhearted Elizabeth, her father, and Mary Nolan's look-alike cook up a con that will solve the young couple's problems. Posing as a wealthy Spanish widow who'll claim a fortune as soon as a family dispute is solved, the look-alike borrows money from quite a few wealthy men. Elizabeth plans on giving her share of the proceeds to Irene. The things she learns about the past make her even more determined to succeed. A delightfully informative combination of racing lore and a clever con. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.