When Spenser is approached by Walter Clive, president of the Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening his horse, Hugger Mugger, he can hardly say no: he's been doing pro bono work for so long his cupboards are just about bare.

Disregarding the resentment of the local Georgia law enforcement, Spenser accepts the case. But it soon takes a deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim, and Spenser must revise his impressions of the Three Fillies organisation - and watch his own back as well.