At the request of life-long family friend, Edward Lincoln, a big-screen movie star, sets of to South Africa to investigate why her racehorses are plonking down the track instead of galloping into the garland as they had. Under the guise of attending a revival movie premier for one of his former movies, Link sets off to discover the underlying cause of their performance issues, only to find himself stuck in a deadly web of greed.

There's glamour, mystery and suspense (not to mention setting - hello South Africa) all wrapped up in Francis's exquisite voice. A great read from beginning to end.

Smokescreen by Dick Francis is an action suspense novel where a famous actor Edward Lincoln goes to South Africa to tend to his dying friend’s horses for Horse Racing. While he is there he realizes that there are numerous suspicious activities and the encounter of murder. Lincoln soon realizes that someone is trying to kill him and has to somehow make it out alive. When I read that summary I thought that the book was going to be a suspense novel about Horse racing but turns out I was wrong. I surprisingly enjoyed this book I thought it was mostly going to be about horse racing but the horse racing part is a small aspect of the actual novel. I got hooked on chapter 5 where an interviewer was electrocuted by the microphone that Edward was holding moments before. From that moment on I was hooked onto the book. At first, the book was not interesting and I started to think to myself, “Why did I even choose this book?” However, the more I forced myself to keep reading the more and more I thought the book was encapsulating. Dick Franacis’s suspense novel was a surprisingly quick and pleasant read.

Another enjoyable addition - not just a new twist, but a radically new setting and an interesting background for the main character.

Fine, not his best

I always enjoy DF. This was a nice story. It was a little predictable. Without spoiling the story-line, I want to say the part that occurred in the car had way too many details and took away a star.

I love Dick Francis. Short, sweet and to the point. His heroes are smart and down to earth. Original plots.

Love these old Dick Francis

I love Dick Francis and this is another great, interesting story. I'm younger so I notice that lack of certain technology like cell phones but still the story, the hardship holds up. I love that every Dick Francis book is both familiar in the type of hero but unique in the type of backgrounds he researches to use... And they play at Best 6 degrees of separation from horse or horse racing

4.5 Stars

Smokescreen by Dick Francis pulls us into a crime & investigation mystery where we follow Edward Lincoln as he plays detective on a friend's request, travelling to South Africa where he soon finds himself out of his depth and with a target on his back. A story of greed, gold, action, adventure, plots, a killer, agendas, danger, drama, suspense, tension, and more- makes for a very intriguing read.
->2023 Reading Challenge.
->Glennie's Collection
Dick Francis novels were a familiar fixture in our household when I was growing up, as both my parents loved his books. He was amongst the first ‘adult’ reads that I explored at the time, and over the years I have read everything he’s written. I remember every time my mother read one of his books, she'd tell me about him and how he'd gone from being an RAF pilot to being the Queen Mother's favourite jockey, before retiring to become a journalist/writer.
Since my mother passed away over a year ago, I have been making my way through her book collection, finally. I decided to make reading her entire collection a part of my reading challenge for the next couple of years (she has a HUGE collection), as well as a way to pay tribute to my mum, who was such a voracious reader..... Reading her collection of books has stirred up a lot of memories, mostly of our shared love of reading. I am forever grateful that she passed on her love of reading to me.

Always a best read

It's probably been 30 years since I read Smokescreen the first time, but while South Africa has changed through the decades, this story is as thrilling as ever. There's nothing like a Dick Francis novel!

My first Dick Francis book. I listened because I like the narrator, Ralph Cosham.
Book begins with an actor, Edward Lincoln, on set trapped in a car in a very hot place. He is handcuffed to the steering wheel with no chance of escape without help. Will he get help or will he be passed by. His portrayal and the movie won awards.
At the end , Edward Lincoln is again handcuffed in a car with real life distress. His life has had three atempts to end it, electrocution, left for dead in a gold mine and now the car. He is rescued by friends after several days and is much the worse for wear. He recovers and mentions to his would be murderer that he has left notes in the car. The murderer is trapped going to retrieve. The murderer is the other heir of the gold mine. He wants it all to himself.
I enjoyed the back story of the actor's life and family.

Dick Francis can always be counted on for an interesting quick read. Thanks to Jane for introducing this author to me many years ago. My husband and I both enjoyed this one during a road trip. More of a 3.5 star read rounded up.