This is the fifth summer that Kate Burnett, her older brother Cole, and their father have spent a month riding the horse trails in a different state while their mother drives the horse trailer from one "horse lodge" to the next. This summer they are in the beautiful forests of Tennessee, once Cherokee land.

The Kickin' Trail Ranch is one of the nicest they've found. The food is great, the location next to the Natchez Trace State Park, and some of the other guests are young and attractive. It seems wonderful until a body is found on the trail.