1. People tend to believe all was rosy in America after the Nazis and Japanese were defeated in WWII. Did this book surprise you by revealing many problems that festered for Americans, personally and nationally?

2. Do you think the way Jessica and her old boyfriend interact is believable? What do you learn about them both through their relationship in the past and in the present?

3. What do you think about the relationship between Jessica and James? Has it changed over the three novels?  What about the way(s) they work together to solve problems?  Their loyalty to each other?  Their sense of humor?

4. What do you think about the way James Crawford handles his mission? Has he lost his touch or is he reasonably cautious?  Is he evenly matched with his enemy? Should he have come completely clean with Jessica from the start?

5. Did you figure out Georg Zottigstrauch’s identity?  What clues tipped you off?  Did you have suspicions about other characters?  Which ones?  Why?

6.  Did you discover anything interesting about horse racing that surprised or enlightened you?  What did you think about Blackie?  Do you see influences of horses starring in  film, TV, or books?  Which ones?

7. Do you see the influences of any particular films from the 1940s in this book, especially film noir? Which films?  Where?  How well do they work in the novel?

8. How important a role would you say that Rose Nyquist plays in Dark Horse? How would you describe Rose?  What do you admire about her or not like about her?

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Strike image from lib.com
Devil His Due ImageBarbara Livingston  https://twitter.com/drflivingston/status/578934814767751168
Noir cityscape rom New York in the Forties, Andreas Feininger (Dover Publications, 1978)