A month ago, I reviewed Paula Munier’s The Night Woods, and mentioned that the theme was related to The Odyssey. Here’s a second mystery, with an even larger connection, Christina Lynch’s unusual Pony Confidential. I’m not crazy when I say how good this mystery was, with alternating chapters narrated by a pony and the woman who owned him when she was twelve, Penny.
The pony is out for revenge. Penny was the only owner he ever loved, and he thought she loved him. But, she abruptly sold him when she was twelve, after an incident in the woods near Ithaca. Twenty-five years later, he hasn’t forgiven her, and he’s taken his anger out on humans all over the country. He doesn’t realize that it wasn’t Penny’s choice, and when her parents abruptly yanked her away to move to Chicago, she was forced to leave the pony behind. To this day, that was the happiest time of her life, although Penny is now married with her own troubled daughter, Tella.
The pony sets out on an odyssey to find Penny to make her pay. It’s a dog that tells him he abandoned his human in the woods that day, and he should be ashamed. Now, instead of anger, he feels guilty, and befriends dogs, other horses, a rat, and a goat on his journey. The pony isn’t used to making friends, but he finds he needs others, and he’s able to help a few animals along his way.
But, Penny has just been arrested. She knows she didn’t kill a man in the woods when she was twelve, but witnesses say otherwise. She’s in despair, knowing her daughter needs her. But, she also looks back at her life, dating everything from the time when she owned the pony.
It’s a dangerous journey for the pony on his way to his own Ithaca and Penny. Once he learns Penny is a murder suspect, he tracks down a person and a horse to prove his Penny isn’t a killer. And he finds a way to connect with Penny’s daughter, Tella.
Ithaca, Penelope, Telemachus, a lengthy journey. Odysseus was only gone for ten years. The pony hasn’t seen his Penny in twenty-five. But, that kind of love is deep.
Pony Confidential isn’t for everyone. But, if you’re a woman who loved horses when you were twelve, the story of the pony’s odyssey will be moving and emotional at times. Lisa Scottoline even says, “Every girl should have a pony.”
Christina Lynch’s website is https://www.clynchwriter.com/.
Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch. Berkley, 2024. ISBN 9780593640364 (hardcover), 384p.
FTC Full Disclosure – I received a galley from NetGalley to review for a journal.
