High Stakes: A Jack Doyle Mystery    by John McEvoy Order:  USA  Can Poisoned Pen, 2014 (2014) Hardcover, Softcover     Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth Jack Doyle has been approached by two FBI agents with whom he has worked before. The racing world is concerned when horses, put out to pasture when their racing days are over, are euthanized at random. Someone – who claims they are mercy killings – dislikes these horses being donated to university vet schools for experimental uses. The mercy killers say death is preferable to being used as a lab rat. At the same time, someone who owns an up-and-coming young race horse is being pressured to sell the potentially winning horse or suffer the consequences. Jack is expected to uncover the blackmailer. Meanwhile, in Ireland, Jack's friend Niall Hanratty, a bookmaker, is under attack and his wife is afraid for his life. Can Jack please find out who is trying to kill her husband and have him or her arrested? That's a lot for one plate but Jack sets about to bring peace to his friends' lives. More luck to him. Jack discovers he is the object of a hit put out on him from an old enemy. Now he must save his own life. I have enjoyed this series even though I have only been to one horse race and that was watching sulky races. Author John McEvoy is a former editor and executive columnist of the Daily Racing Form and has won two prestigious Ben Franklin Awards for this series. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews