Hush Money by Chuck Greaves, Minotaur Books, New York, hard cover, 304 pages, $24.99If you’re going on vacation in August, be sure and take Hush Money with you. I mean the book. It’s a first novel by Los Angeles trial lawyer Chuck Greaves that’s polished and fast-paced with crackling dialog, the latter often the death knell for many first-timers.

Jack MacTaggart, the story’s protagonist, is a non-horsey lawyer representing an insurance company investigating a claim on a recently deceased show jumper. Our lawyer gets educated about horses and the high stakes world of professional show jumping by Tara Flynn, a gorgeous young rider who despises the dead horse’s bereaved owner, socialite Sydney Everett.