Pony Confidential

As a kid, I absolutely loved horses. From my numerous Breyer horses to the book series I read (The Black Stallion; Phantom Stallion; Pony Pals; many more!), I was a horse girl through and through (minus the budget for riding lessons, sadly). To this day, I love horses and am drawn to anything involving them. This is why Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch first captured my interest.

25 years ago, Pony loved his human, 12-year-old Penny. But despite her seeming kindness, she suddenly disappeared from his life, leaving him disillusioned, hateful, and vengeful. Now old but still cute and naughty, Pony is on a mission to finally find Penny and right the wrong it took him far too long to realize he committed. Is Penny safe out there, wherever she is? Pony goes on a cross-country, years-long journey to be reunited with his person. Meanwhile, Penny has been accused of murder, and her trial isn’t looking good. Will anyone be able to prove her innocence?

Tropes & Narrative Devices:

• Animal narrator (The Pony)
• Nonlinear timeline
• Decades-old mystery
• Cross-country journey
• Dual POV (both first-person and third-person)

What I Liked:

• Grumpy pony! Pony gets a pretty epic opening paragraph from his point of view, and he remains a delightfully snarky and acerbic narrator throughout. Sure, he’s selfish, mean, and prone to biting people, but underneath it all, he’s also loyal and loving. Upon realizing that his mission of vengeance is misguided, he is determined to instead save Penny from whatever befell her 25 years ago. Will he be able to track her down and finally be reunited with her?
• So many animals! Horses, goats, dogs, rats, sparrows, bats, owls, cats, and more: Pony encounters numerous animals, both wild and domesticated, during his journey to find Penny. Some animals are helpful in pointing him in the right direction; others send him on a deserved runaround. No matter how big or small a role they played, I loved seeing all these animals and watching Pony interact with them.
• The harsh life animals face. Fun as this novel is, it’s also eye-opening to the atrocious ways people treat animals. Pony goes from job to job over the years, working in kids pony rides, as a companion to wealthy women or racehorses, and more. But he also faces dangers, such as the risk of being deemed worthless and thus sent to be euthanized. Pony describes the hollowness that some animals fall into, and it is heartbreaking. I hope this book inspires all its readers to treat animals better and save them from abuse, neglect, and cruelty.
• Cross-country journey! Pony travels all across the United States, from California to New York to Florida and more. It’s quite spread out, both in terms of distance and time! But he certainly is determined and makes a lot of memories along the way.
• Penny is on trial for murder. She didn’t commit it though! Right? Beyond Pony’s overdue reunion journey, Penny is facing her own tribulations. At the heart of this book is an unsolved mystery, one that had major impacts on both Penny and her pony.
• Mental health. This book looks at various mental health issues, including anxiety and that aforementioned hollowness that can affect people and animals alike. I appreciate the subtle reinforcement that we should all be more compassionate with each other.

What Didn’t Work for Me:

• Nothing, this was great!

Final Thoughts

From start to finish, I adored Pony Confidential. It’s funny and silly, but smart and thoughtful, with tons of laughs and heart in equal measure. Pony in particular is a standout narrator; I need to read more books from an animal’s point of view. This is a book that, while partially a cozy mystery, defies categorization and should be enjoyable to a wide range of readers.

Side note: It wasn’t until I was already reading this that I found out Christina Lynch is one half of the writing duo behind City of Dark Magic and City of Lost Dreams. I read those back in 2013 and enjoyed them so much! Pony Confidential is a completely different book and genre, but it does maintain the author’s fun, humorous writing style. I may need to reread those and finally share my reviews of them.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House, Berkley, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Get the Book

You can buy Pony Confidential here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch
Audience	Adult
Genre	Cozy Mystery
Setting	New York; California; Florida; Illinois
Number of Pages	384
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	November 5, 2024
Publisher	Berkley

Official Summary

In this one-of-a-kind mystery with heart and humor, a hilariously grumpy pony must save the only human he’s ever loved after discovering she stands accused of a murder he knows she didn’t commit.

Pony has been passed from owner to owner for longer than he can remember. Fed up, he busts out and goes on a cross-country mission to reunite with Penny, the little girl who he was separated from and hasn’t seen in years.

Penny, now an adult, is living an ordinary life when she gets a knock on her door and finds herself in handcuffs, accused of murder and whisked back to the place she grew up. Her only comfort when the past comes back to haunt her is the memory of her precious, rebellious pony.

Hearing of Penny’s fate, Pony knows that Penny is no murderer. So, as smart and devious as he is cute, the pony must use his hard-won knowledge of human weakness and cruelty to try to clear Penny’s name and find the real killer.

This acutely observant, feel-good mystery reveals the humanity of animals and beastliness of humans in a rollicking escapade of epic proportions.