Hard to put down. The story unfolds beginning in Australia and moving to England and into the life of a stable lad. Francis' understanding of the race world and the numerous tasks necessary to keep horses fed, groomed and trained are explored in this tale of investigation and discovery. Daniel Roke is the central investigator who weaves his way posing as a convincing and disreputable character accepted in the stables as just another near-do-well like so many before him. His exploits keep the reader on the edge of his seat. Francis is a master storyteller.

Good old-fashioned thriller. Saint Daniel Rook tackles a dirty business in a dirty industry, as we know today from so many exposes of the corrupt horse-racing environment. A clever plot, and I liked the characters, even though they are stereotypes. Saint Daniel is very like the Biblical Daniel. A modern Knight straight out of the pages of a storybook of Chivalry.

My first Dick Francis book and probably not my last. I was pleasantly surprised by this horse racing mystery. Fast-paced and with a really relatable main character, this was a great read.
2022 reading challenge-a book published at least ten years ago

This early Francis novel has a clever concept to explain the manipulation of the horses and some well-staged action sequences. But characters rarely rise above mere templates and the attitude toward women is dismal (a common flaw of most of this writer's early work). Additionally, there are some ludicrous ideas about what it takes to go undercover at the beginning and a ludicrous payoff for the protagonist's investigative efforts at the end. However, the novel's portrayal of difficult life of stable hands is quite touching.