5 minute read
Travels of Quinn
New Book By Aiken Author
Sasscer Hill’s Travels of Quinn
By Pam Gleason
Sasscer Hill, an Aiken author who writes mysteries, has a new book called The Travels of Quinn. Like her previous books, this one is a murder mystery. Unlike them, it is not set on the racetrack. Instead, the story is centered on a 19-year-old woman named Quinn O’Neill. Abandoned by her intelligent and educated mother, Quinn was raised by her father and a clan of Irish American Travellers who make their living as con artists. Although Quinn herself is adept at every trick in the book, she is also a voracious reader, and yearns for a different way of life. As the book begins, she is arrested and jailed for theft. As restitution, she is sent to work at an Aiken estate that raises Gypsy Vanner horses. Then a murder is committed at the estate and Quinn becomes the prime suspect. She must find the real killer before she is imprisoned again, or the killer comes for her.
“Having lived in Aiken for eight years, I’ve grown to love the area and wanted to use Aiken as the setting for this novel,” said Sasscer. She said she also became fascinated by the culture of the Irish American Travellers who live in North Augusta, and this book was a way to learn more about them. Before sitting down to write, she spent a great deal of time researching Traveller culture.
“While writing this murder mystery, I was lucky to have terrific support from Aiken law enforcement, including Aiken criminal defense attorney, P. Andrew Anderson, Judge Jack Early, Judge for the Second Judicial Circuit inSouth Carolina, and Captain Nick Gallam, Jail Administrator with the Aiken County Sheriff ’s Office Detention Division,” she said. “They and others were incredibly helpful.”
Sasscer’s previous books include two separate series of horse racing murder mysteries that recall Dick Francis. One series follows Nikki Latrelle, a Baltimore jockey; the other is about the adventures of Fia McKee, a Baltimore policewoman who becomes an agent for the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau. Sasscer herself is from Maryland, where she owned and bred racehorses for many decades. Her racetrack experience included working on the backside as well as riding as an amateur steeplechase jockey.
A fascination with horses and with equestrian life permeates Sasscer’s previous books and the Adventures of Quinn is no exception. This is her first book with a heroine who does not start out as a horse person: in fact, before she is brought to the Aiken estate, Quinn had never been around horses before. But, instinctively, she loves them.
“Like so many people in trouble, she finds that horses ground her and give her hope for a better life,” says Sasscer.
Quinn’s unfamiliarity with horses gives Sasscer the opportunity to express her own love for horses as though she were encountering them for the first time. It also gives her the chance to write about Aiken’s unique equestrian community. Here is Quinn’s first glimpse of Aiken as her lawyer drives her up to the estate:
Curious, I glanced at Sanders. “This is a wealthy neighborhood. Why would these people settle for a dirt road?”
“So they can ride their horses and drive their carriages.”
“Seriously?” When he nodded, I said, “But we are in the middle of the city. They allow it?”
“It’s Aiken,” he said, as if that explained everything.
I stopped talking, and stared at what I could see of the homes around us. Huge live oaks spread graceful branches above ancient trunks. Evergreen hedges and bushes formed visually impenetrable fences. Only through leaves, or a gate set in a stone or brick wall was I allowed an occasional glimpse of a hidden, stately home. I’d never seen anything like it.
Then at the estate, Ballymoor, Quinn has her first introduction to horses: Black manes on cream bodies, white manes on black coats, and dark grays with dapples like silver coins. Their manes and forelocks were so long the horses appeared to have sprouted wings. I could feel the earth tremble beneath my feet as they pounded past again. I could sense their movement in the air currents around me. I could smell them. In awe, I stared at a palomino that flew past. The bright dapples on his coat resembled a floating treasure of gold doubloons.
Sasscer Hill's books are available through her website: https://www.sasscerhill.com/books.
When Quinn meets horses, it is, in Sasscer’s words. “Love at first sight. Her daily routine taking care of them brings her a physical and mental strength she wouldn’t have believed possible.” And of course, like Sasscer’s other two heroines, Quinn is smart, tough, courageous and resourceful.
“Now that this mystery-thriller of deceit, murder, greed and hope is published, I’m working on a fifth “Nikki Latrelle” horse racing novel,” Sasscer said. The first chapter of the new book is included at the end of Travels of Quinn.
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