I'll be honest with you -- I don't like horses. They're big and scary. And that's just the trainers. However, laying prejudice to one side, I did my best to enjoy this tale of show jumping shenanigans at a Florida racetrack. But try as I might, I found it wanting. The notion of a disgraced cop choosing a secluded early retirement only to be drawn into a crime case on their doorstep might have been original once, but if so that was a very long time ago. Here, ex-narcotics officer Elena Este's involvement in the disappearance of missing groom Erin Seabright is as formulaic as it is predictable. Punctuated by flashbacks to the death of her partner -- an event she feels responsible for, naturally -- Este thinks she can somehow right this wrong by finding Erin. The trail of clues moves from the glitzy world of Palm Beach to the claustrophobic gloom of the nearby Florida swamps. But despite pithy writing, Dark Horse often resembles an equestrian training manual crossed with a particularly wholesome New Age tract. A 'gritty underworld of international show jumping' boasts the press release. What next? The sordid underbelly of chartered accounting? I can't wait.
