This book is not one of Francis' best and feels a bit anti-climatic after the extremely good "Come to Grief." However, Sid Halley, as one of the few repeated characters in Francis' writing, remains a fascinating anti-hero and there is still enough here for readers to enjoy. There are twists and turns to enjoy, Halley's persistence in the face of a mostly unseen opponent, and of course the backdrop of horse racing. At times, the research in the book is not as carefully woven into the story as it was in his other books. However, overall this remains an entertaining read.

Richard Francis readily admitted that the author 'Dick Francis' was him and his wife, so it's probably wise to choose an earlier novel for your first one as Under Orders was written after her death. But I didn't know that when I picked this at random from my late mother's bookshelf.

It suffers from plodding prose, with everything over-described and over-explained, with nothing left to the imagination. Early on, there is the following exchange: "I put a monkey on Candlestick to win at 30-1." "So if he won, you'd win £15,000." Most British readers know what a monkey is. Anyone who doesn't can easily work it out from the above. So why does Francis add: "A monkey is gambling slang for five hundred"?

There is far too much banal description. If you're investigating a murder, who cares that you had an "excellent Merlot" over dinner?

The dialogue is generally poor. Francis doesn't seem aware that spoken English is very different from written English, and sometimes characters talk like textbooks when explaining things that are obviously being explained for the reader's benefit, not the other character. A brutal editor (like me) could have lost 100 of the 400 pages just by tightening the prose and especially the dialogue.

Then there's the frightfully fortuitous fact that Sid's girlfriend (who is young, intelligent and gorgeous, of course) happens to work at a lab where she can get DNA tests done when the police aren't interested.

Sounds awful, so why three stars? Because the prose's shortcomings aren't bad enough to do more than slow the action down, and the murder and race-fixing plot is well constructed. So I quite enjoyed it nonetheless.

This really isn't Dick Francis at his best and at times I found my attention wandering. However it was written just after the death of his wife who had so greatly influenced many of my favourites, and towards the end of the author's own life, so one can make allowances.

I wish, though, that Dick Francis hadn't revisited his Sid Halley character. He seemed if anything rather out of character, and I didn't care for his 'fiancee' Marina either. The whole thing felt tired and a little overworked, although at times the plot showed some of the old zest and the final scene was as exciting as ever.

I have marked this book as a re-read, but I don't actually remember the first time around, so perhaps I marked it as 'read' in error!

Would I read it again? Doubtful. I'd choose one of the others instead...

A very enjoyable re-visit to the British racing world.

A very enjoyable re-visit to the British racing world. It was nice to read Sid Halley again,too. As always action packed and full of unusual villains.

Really 1.5 stars. The author had been out of the racing world for 50 years when this was published and boy does it show. Francis' 1950s attitudes are too evident in this 2006 novel. His Dutch girlfriend may be a cancer researcher, but she is still tall, blonde, leggy and fashion-model Bond-girl beautiful. He hates technology, distrusts computers, and has of all things an answering machine! (By 2006 even I had voicemail). Even though Martyn Jarvis reads well, I was waiting for it to end and bailed on the last 10 minutes. All the action is crammed into the last chapter, and even that is not well done. The Epilogue felt tacked on to explain the abrupt ending And where does the title tie into the "story"?

I would appear to be over Dick Francis. I hear there's a Sid Halley 5, but I doubt I'll be interested.

Nice to catch up with Sid Halley again...one of my favorites.

3.5 stars. The 4th book featuring Sid Halley, ex-jockey with a prosthesis for a left hand. Sid is living with his girlfriend, Marina van der Meer. He investigates the shooting deaths of his friends, jockey Huw Walker and trainer Bill Burton. The police think Burton killed Walker then committed suicide but Sid thinks it was someone else.

A good read.

I enjoy Dick Francis books because he writes from a simpler time (1960-1970s England), so there is less tech, simpler antagonists, but still great character development and story plots to keep you interested.

Under Orders was the first Francis book published after Mary Francis' death -- and, unfortunately, it shows. The wonderful spare Francis prose is entirely missing here, and there is waaaaay too much irrelevant anger at society's general failings in evidence. It has become widely known lately that Mary Francis played a large part in writing the "Dick" Francis novels, and reading this book certainly gives evidence of that fact. It's still a Sid Halley book, which is a strong point for it, but that doesn't really make up for the low quality of the writing in this one.

I like a good Dick Francis crime fiction tale. Through the years I’ve read many of his horse related books, though the story is really about the solving of the crimes (usually involving a murder) committed. Even though I care nothing for horse racing, he keeps me riveted to the last page with his action-filled writing. This is the fourth Sid Halley novel, but you don’t need the first ones to enjoy it. If you like mysteries of high, intense drama, but definitely not the “cozy” kind, then you will probably enjoy his books.

Under orders is the first Dick Francis novel I have read. It’s also the first one he penned after his wife’s death left him bereft and without a research partner for his writing. Thankfully, his son Felix stepped into that role, beginning a fruitful collaboration that sees Dick Francis novels published today, even after the death of the author himself.

This work is the fourth in a series of novels to feature Sid Halley, a retired jockey turned private investigator. Crime isn’t really my favourite genre, but as a horse lover and rider, I was curious to read one of Francis’s works. Dick Francis was himself a champion National Hunt jockey before turning his hand to writing.

The prose is direct, clean, tight, and very readable, and the plot has some surprising twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting. The story and characters kept me gripped from the first chapter, and I actually found myself galloping toward the finishing post at 3am on Christmas morning. Not many books can keep me awake past 10pm.

I would recommend this novel to anyone who wants to dip their toe into the world of crime fiction. It was fast-paced, easy to read, and brilliantly researched. I'll be picking up more of Dick Francis's work in future.

Dick Francis could still write pretty well in his old age,despite losing his wife Mary who helped him so much in his writing.The ingredients are familiar but I always enjoy a Francis thriller.The story moves along nicely at a brisk enough pace.