Typical Dick Francis. The hero is smart, capable, and a bit snobby. He is a skilled glassblower who becomes the target of a crazy woman who believes he is in possession of something worth millions.
I enjoyed it, but the end was not his best.

This is a re-read on my Kindle. Originally read this book from the library way back when. When his books come up on sale for $4.99 or less I buy them.

Shattered follows a professional Glass Blower and Maker who gets into trouble when his best friend, a jockey dies while racing. He is given his friends effects. Little did he know the trouble that would land him in! Now he has to extricate himself from multiple groups of people, good and bad both, who want what he had, only it was stolen before he knew he had it.

Per usual, we learn about the Glass Blowing trade while we read thru this book, so we not only get a mystery, we also learn about the glass. This is why I love Dick Francis, each book he writes focuses on a different trade or job alongside the mystery part.

Not really my genre but it was an intriguing mystery.

Another good one - I will never work with glass (don't like the heat) but have a fascination for it - another interesting mystery - vaguely related to horses.

Loved the glassblower workshop scenes and the main character’s relationships almost as much as the story, but that was fun too.

You can find information about the circumstances under which this book was written by using your favorite browser to search on “Felix Francis” and “discovernewmarket.co.uk”, to read the article, “Felix Francis: Continuing the Family Business”, posted to that URL on 13/01/2022. Very enlightening!
I read the two most recently published Felix Francis novels, liked them, and was searching around to learn if he has anything new coming out in 2023, when I found this article.
I agree with other reviewers here on GR that Shattered is probably for completists, not a starting point for reading Dick Francis *or* Felix Francis.

Good writer but ultimately a bit boring.

Awful

This wasn't just the worst Dick Francis I've ever read, it was one of the worst books I've ever come across. The plot was utterly ridiculous, as were all the characters and events, and it was incredibly badly written. I've read many Francis books and this was so different to them, and so inferior in every way, that I find it impossible to believe he wrote it at all. Garbage.

I always enjoy Dick Francis' writing. However, this book followed a predictable formula--young man inadvertently involved in a theft, in this case a video tape. He is beaten up, recovers within 24 hours and is back on the trail of solving the mystery. Enter the pretty girl and a developing romance and on and on. I found the read somewhat tedious.

This novel, like some of the other ones Dick Francis wrote, veers away from the world of horse racing. In this instance everything revolves around glass blowing.

I have to say that these books are brilliantly researched and use all the information gleaned to build a cracking thriller. Shattered is set around the millennium and involves the theft of a video tape (remember those?) of great worth and the usual cast of criminals bent on getting the tape by any means possible.

The story runs along at a cracking pace and is up to the usual Dick Francis standard.

Actually 3.5. I read this in 2 days, so it wasn’t boring. Francis doesn’t waste words, and you have to read everything in order not to miss something vital.
Very formulaic, a little bit horses, a youngish attractive onlooker who is caught up in the mystery, an interesting sideline (in this case, the hero is a well known glass blower - lots of techy bits if you are interested). Always a good read, Dick Francis can make an interesting story out of anything.

The protagonist is a glass blower. Dick Francis goes into great detail on the mechanics and art of glass blowing, which adds a lot of interesting detail to the book. The mystery itself isn't one of his best, a little confusing at times. Overall still a great read from a master.