This was an interesting book. On the one hand I couldn't put it down. The writing was perfectly paced and each chapter kept me wanting to read more. On the other hand it was described as a murder mystery and while there was a mystery, this did not seem to be the main plot. I enjoyed the chapters told from the pony's point of view and his interactions with the other animals, I felt the Penny chapters were a bit flat and the choices she made were questionable. While I sped through this book, the end was a bit contrived. Overall it was an enjoyable read.

Christina Lynch has written an interesting and unique novel. The main characters are Penny and Pony. Penny is in her late 30s, a wife, mother, third grade teacher and charged with a murder that occurred 25 years prior. Pony is the riding pony that Penny owned when she was a child and thought of as her best friend. The murder occurred when Penny was 12 after which she and her parents moved to Chicago and sold Pony. The story is told by both Penny and Pony in alternating chapters. Each tells their story of the past 25 years along with the present. The novel is a testament to love between a person and their childhood pet, the struggle to understand the past and determination to find the truth and the connections that remained strong after loosing each other for 25 years. Lynch does a remarkable job connecting the storylines and joining them for an astounding conclusion. I highly recommend this book.

Years ago there was a young girl named Penny who loved a horse named Pony, and he loved her too. They were separated and he went to a number of different homes - unhappily. When Penny is accused of murder, Pony gets involved to help solve the crime.

I wanted to read this novel because it sounded unique and intriguing. It was! This is the most unusual book I've read in quite a while. Pony is a character in the story, often helped in his detecting by other animals, with some fantastic and unexpected adventures. I have never been a horsey person, but I am an animal lover, and found this all very intriguing. I think that other animal lovers will as well!

Wonderful book! The scenes switch between the pony's point of view & Penny's (his former owner). The pony is determined to find Penny & "make her pay" for what he thinks is her betrayal. You'll love the ending! Totally unexpected.

I just never really got invested in the story. Even over halfway through I didn’t care if she and the pony found each other. I liked the alternating story telling.

I was intrigued by the premise... but ultimately I wasn't sure who the target audience for this book was supposed to be. I thought it was going to be a kind of tongue in cheek, humorous murder mystery, but so much of it reads very earnestly like literary for animal lovers. Even as a horse girl myself, I think it was missing a classic mystery structure that might've helped hold the overall story up in the long run. I felt the pacing was a little off and the writing voice was occasionally juvenile. The Pony's POV chapters felt cheeky but somewhat hardboiled; I think it might have worked even better if that was the full POV for the whole storyline. Ultimately this one just did not work as well for me as I hoped it would but I applaud the concept and the attempt at genre-bending.

I love love loved this book! I typically read psychological thrillers and social horror, but sometimes I need a break. This book was the perfect break. It is a murder mystery, and the plot kept me turning the pages, but the star of the show was the Pony! I freaking loved Pony. I’d it too late for me to become a horse girl? lol. Each character felt unique (even Dr. Rat lol).
This book left me w a warm fuzzy feeling. Five stars!

I imagine the logline of Pony Confidential was 'Pony solves murder; horse girl rejoices.' Or something along those lines. I myself am not a horse girl - in fact I have a pretty specific fear of horses - but the cover and the jacket copy caught my attention. I LOVED Henry Hoke's Open Throat and I figured I might enjoy another book, particularly a murder mystery, that had at least one animal POV. Animal POVs have been huge recently. And, for the most part, I did enjoy Pony Confidential.

Penny and the Pony, our two MCs, were each compelling in their own rights. Penny had a lot less to do, really, and mostly waited for the Pony to save her while providing characterization and plot through different-stage-in-life flashbacks, but was generally likeable if a bit static. The Pony was, frankly, a bit of a ~character~ in that his tone and motivation seemed less than domesticated. Parts every animal from Homeward Bound, Airbud, and less-violent John Wick, the Pony drove the narrative. The Pony also went on what can only be described as inane and unnecessary side quests that significantly drew out the length of the novel and made me question what I was doing reading the book. Had the story been more tightly constructed (including removing a lot of unnecessary characters who did nothing to advance the plot), and had there been significantly less time-jumping, it would have been a lot easier to answer that question.

There is a meme that depicts a drawing of a horse in which the first 25% of the horse is beautifully drawn, detailed down to the micrometer, each hair rendered in extraordinary style. And then the back 75% of the horse is a children's best attempt. Maybe they haven't seen a horse. Maybe they have. It's sort of close, but it's not all there. That meme is how I felt about Pony Confidential. Ironically, had the book instead been a drawing of a pony in the metaphor - much shorter and more compact - it probably would have been much more lovely a narrative. The pieces were there, but character and adventure bloat turned this interesting idea into a bit of a slog.

Christina Lynch's latest novel is a love letter to the pony/human bond. It's a whodunnit murder mystery. And a tribute to fables. It's also a call to respect all creatures great and small. It's told in alternating chapters from the dual perspectives of schoolteacher/mom/former equestrian Penny and her childhood pony, Yes, the pony narrates, and I found his chapters the more compelling. The novel's characters change and grow more empathetic as the truth emerges of what really happened that night twenty-five years ago when 12-year-old Penny and her beloved pony were torn from one another.
I'm a fan of Christina Lynch's. This is a very different book, waaaay more fantastical than The Italian Party, which I prefer for its espionage thriller vibes and Italian setting. What I appreciate about Pony Confidential are its humor, its empathy, and its revelations about all things pony. The author is obviously a pony fan. This book is her passionate homage, and that passion kept me reading. I will continue to seek out Lynch's books.

[Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and BookBrowse for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy and share my opinion of this book.]

3.5 Stars.

But wait! There’s more! The opening was imaginative and caught my mind, but…
There kept being one more thing, one more wrinkle, one more trip, one more bending of chronology and imagination. I got tired by the end.
I learned some things, like a pony is not just a young horse. And I was following the story of a 3rd-grade teacher in California arrested by a deputy she knew (and thought was pulling a prank) and subsequently extradited to New York for a murder she supposedly committed 25 years before when she was 12.
The story alternates voices, Penny (the woman) and the pony she had as a child. Magical conversations between different species of animals as the pony tries to find Penny. The amount of time the pony’s travels had to have taken were only one of the realities I had to forego.
Not sorry that I read it. It was a page turner until about the last 100 pages when I had to suspend many beliefs.

Wow! What a captivating blend of mystery, thriller, and women's fiction! The writing is engaging, weaving together suspense, fun and emotional depth seamlessly. The plot is intricately crafted, keeping me hooked from start to finish. It’s a stellar 5-star read for sure.

A month ago, I reviewed Paula Munier’s The Night Woods, and mentioned that the theme was related to The Odyssey. Here’s a second mystery, with an even larger connection, Christina Lynch’s unusual Pony Confidential. I’m not crazy when I say how good this mystery was, with alternating chapters narrated by a pony and the woman who owned him when she was twelve, Penny.

The pony is out for revenge. Penny was the only owner he ever loved, and he thought she loved him. But, she abruptly sold him when she was twelve, after an incident in the woods near Ithaca. Twenty-five years later, he hasn’t forgiven her, and he’s taken his anger out on humans all over the country. He doesn’t realize that it wasn’t Penny’s choice, and when her parents abruptly yanked her away to move to Chicago, she was forced to leave the pony behind. To this day, that was the happiest time of her life, although Penny is now married with her own troubled daughter, Tella.

The pony sets out on an odyssey to find Penny to make her pay. It’s a dog that tells him he abandoned his human in the woods that day, and he should be ashamed. Now, instead of anger, he feels guilty, and befriends dogs, other horses, a rat, and a goat on his journey. The pony isn’t used to making friends, but he finds he needs others, and he’s able to help a few animals along his way.

But, Penny has just been arrested. She knows she didn’t kill a man in the woods when she was twelve, but witnesses say otherwise. She’s in despair, knowing her daughter needs her. But, she also looks back at her life, dating everything from the time when she owned the pony.

It’s a dangerous journey for the pony on his way to his own Ithaca and Penny. Once he learns Penny is a murder suspect, he tracks down a person and a horse to prove his Penny isn’t a killer. And he finds a way to connect with Penny’s daughter, Tella.

Ithaca, Penelope, Telemachus, a lengthy journey. Odysseus was only gone for ten years. The pony hasn’t seen his Penny in twenty-five. But, that kind of love is deep.

Pony Confidential isn’t for everyone. But, if you’re a woman who loved horses when you were twelve, the story of the pony’s odyssey will be moving and emotional at times. Lisa Scottoline even says, “Every girl should have a pony.”

I loved this book! Critics will say it was unrealistic and it certainly was, but what a fun story about a life long bond between a girl and her pony with a little murder mystery thrown in! The characters were all charming and quirky and I fell in love with each one.. except the villains who were incredibly easy to dislike . This is a great light read for animal lovers and those who believe in the magic of having a pet who loves you 🩷

Thanks to NetGalley, BookBrowse, and Berkley Publishers for a copy of Pony Confidential in exchange for an honest review.

Pony Confidential is a thoughtful, touching, suspenseful murder mystery which uses laugh out loud humor in describing fantastical animal adventures, and the often harsh realities of human behavior. Pony and Penny alternate their stories which began 25 year earlier. Pony is curmudgeonly and vengeful due to his abandonment by Penny years ago. He has held on to his grudge and it keeps him motivated to find her. This requires stamina, luck and a bit of pony mind control. Over the course of the book he learns about himself, and Penny learns about her family, the legal system and most importantly herself. If you enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, or Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley you will want to read this book.

After a life of being sold and serving many people, grumpy horse, Pony, realizes that he has only loved one person: a young girl named Penny. So, Pony sets off to find Penny. But now she is an adult and stands accused of murder. Pony knows she didn't do it, and sets out to prove it.

This story was delightful. You will love it if you liked Six-Thirty in Lessons in Chemistry and/or Marcellus in Remarkably Bright Creatures, or if you are looking for a well-written, feel-good story.

I thoroughly enjoyed Pony Confidential. It is promoted as a humorous mystery novel, but the novel is a lot more than that. Through the perspective of a once-beloved pony that has been passed around from owner to owner, Pony Confidential addresses the relationships humans have with animals, the disposable nature of society, environmental destruction and the need to feel safe and protected. Through the eyes of Penny, the book addresses childhood trauma, the burden of mental illness, and the classism of the penal system. In short, this book is more than meets the eye and I enjoyed the two perspectives, though the " mystery" itself was not too difficult to figure out, I still enjoyed this playful but surprisingly deep book. The prose is deft, punchy and often laugh-out-loud funny, and the supporting characters (particularly in the animal world), flesh out the narrative.

Partially told through a grumpy pony's point of view, this fun story starts with the pony seeking revenge on his young owner for selling him and later trying to prove she's been falsely accused of murder.

As a fan of offbeat murder mysteries and a bit of a horse girl, I found so many things to love about this vicious, stubborn, hilarious, heartbreaking pony detective. Come for the misanthropy and biting wit — and some actual biting — but stay for the power of love to conquer injustice. Even if it’s the love of a greedy, cynical, self-righteous quadruped, for the one human he doesn’t consider a total loss.

Wow. What a weird and delightful book. If Black Beauty and The Odyssey were to have a love child, this book might be the result.

Like Black Beauty, it's a tale told (mostly) by an equine, with important moral insights, mostly related to animals, while not coming across as preachy or didactic. Like The Odyssey, the brave hero traverses great distances and trials to reunite with the love of his life.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but it ended up being one that I stayed up well past bedtime to finish. Not that the mystery was so gripping, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Would highly recommend this unique book to animal lovers everywhere!

My favorite genre is adult books with animals as the protagonist, followed by mystery. This should have been an easy one for me to love, but sadly here we are. The biggest problem for me was it felt like the book didn't know what it wanted to be. the first 60% is mostly our belligerent pony narrator having endless adventures in his quest to find his person. It was like Benji on steroids. Pony crisscrossed the USA 6 times, if not more! Pony has a great voice, but the first person doomed it with telling and more telling and no showing. Our second lead is Penny...Penny reads like YA, nothing in her voice feels natural and her "mystery" doesn't really jump start until 60% through our tale. Pony needed to pick a lane, and have a heavier editing hand to tighten up the story, make it head in a single direction and amp up the endearing characters while shrinking the not so well drawn folks...of which...there are about 6 billion folks in this book.