I love all Dick Francis novels. I remember the people who populate his world years later. But Decider is one particularly close to my heart, as we watch Lee, the main character, go through this novel with his six sons (and we find out by the end that a seventh is on the way).

It's been years since I read this book, but there are scenes from it still vivid in my mind--trying to get his sons out of a fire, the house they live in, the warring family into which he's stumbled--and I hope to find my copy and read it again.

I think of this as a 3.75, but not quite a four. As usual any Francis novel is going to be well written and enjoyable. Our main character, Lee Morris, is decent, ethical, hard-working and smart. In addition he is a loving father to six (!) young boys. One thing I like about Francis novels in general is that the protagonist is always someone I would very much like. There's a lot of excitement, turmoil, feuding within a wealthy family and stuck up aristocrats. There is a moment though, about 3/4ths of the way through the book where it just started to drag. I was like, "oh dear, not another chapter designed to display the class differences and the unmerited anger against our pal, Lee." It just didn't seem necessary at that point and wasn't moving the plot forward. Other than that, though, the story clipped along with an Agatha Christie style denouement, a neatly resolved and most satisfying ending.

A touch of Agatha Christie at the horseraces, with a twist of Cleudo thrown in for good measure. A little dated, but overall, a sedate, easy-to-read crime fiction novel.

Lee Morris is an architect who owns a small share in a race course.The major shareholders belong to the Stratton family,and they can't seem to agree about the future plans for the race course,whether it should be sold or restored.

Unusually for a Francis book,this one has plenty of children,the kids of Lee Morris.As he becomes embroiled in dangerous situation,so do his kids,adding to his worries.

Who is trying to kill Morris ? There are multiple suspects,just like there were in Hot Money.It is a whodunit and it is hard to guess the culprit till the end.

Decider is a top-notch Francis thriller which kept me entertained from start to finish.This is among his best books.

Lee Morris, the father of 6 sons is estranged from his wife even though they are still living together. He is owner of a few of stock in a racecourse. He finally goes to a meeting and meets the Stratton family in person. His mother had been married to one of the Strattons but he was not Lee's father. Her second husband was. Lee takes his sons on a outing to the racecourse in their "bus" and they have a great time until they run into the worst of the Strattons, Keith who was his mother's first husband. Things go downhill rapidly and plenty of trouble ensues. Lee's relationship with his sons is admirable and makes you admire him. This story is a little prolonged and ends up rather predictably. But Dick Francis books are always enjoyable.

What an ending! Love that Lee didn’t get the young woman he was lusting after. Such a breath of fresh air. Finally a realistic story.

It was a bit weird how there was nothing about the racetrack or the boys in the last few sentences, but we were giving at least the knowledge that yet another boy would join the ranks, I suppose.

Margerie was my absolute favourite, what a woman! And loved the description that she was a hell of a woman with a touch of tycoon in her. Brilliant!

Lee Morris is a beginning architect and engineer who gets in the middle of a feud over a racecourse between members of a family that he is connected to. He believes that choice is preordained. When murder occurs he comes in danger himself and must make critical choices.

This was the absolute best novel I've read by this author (of whom I've read 5 or 6 books). The Stratton family is complex and interesting. An architect, the protagonist, at the racetrack adds a new twist and his character is refreshingly open minded and creative. The usual crooked racing hijinks and then some upper class social intrigue made this delightful.

Lee Morris and his five old-enough sons pack into their converted bus to take an Easter holiday road trip. Lee specializes in finding historic old ruins and converting them into modern, contemporary living. He and his family are off in search of ruins for the next project, while promising the boys some entertainment, too.

During the trip, Lee decides to attend a shareholders’ meeting for a race track that his mother had received a few shares after divorcing her abusive husband.

What Lee finds is a deeply divided family, split along the lines of continuing to operate the track or selling to a developer. The majority of the shareholders belong to his mother’s ex-husband’s family. There is not just abuse in the family, but true sociopaths lurk within. Explosions, beatings and even attempted murder are part of their arsenal to achieve their desired goals.

Lee and his boys are thrust into the middle of it, and of course are put into great danger.

Another page turning story by the master storyteller whose protagonists are always good guys, and family dynamics are often twisted out of normal realities. I believe I’ve read at least one other where the plight of a racetrack is in the balance. So while the story is original, several of the plot devices – race track plight, twisted families – are beginning to feel familiar.

Good solid 3.7 star read.

As a long time Dick Francis fan, I was pleasantly surprised to learn there was a book in the series I had not read. Listening to Decider in audiobook, narrated by the marvelous Simon Prebble, was a joy. Francis chooses a male main character, usually in his early thirties, for his books as he does with Decider. But he gives his main character five boys whose presence add a unique perspective to the story. Francis is also good at making the old women in his books seem believable and a positive addition to plot and so he does in Decider. The vivid descriptions add a wonderful sense of place that is vital to crime novels. One of the best novels in the entire body of work by Dick Francis.

Another good Dick Francis crime mystery and quite different from many others I’ve read. The very likable hero this time is an architect and father of 6 boys. Taking his 5 oldest sons on a trip to find a new project, he gets entangled into a wealthy family’s dangerous personalities and secrets. I seriously think that if he were the mom, he’d have had the boys on his hands and needing him a lot more than he had, being the dad. A lot of likable characters that you really wanted to be happy and do well, as usual. However, the ending didn’t leave me feeling as good or satisfied as Dick Francis’ novels always have before.

An unusual book from Dick Francis in that the hero has children and is in an unhappy marriage. The story, as with most Francis books, carries the reader along at pace and is not too complicated. I liked both the children and the hero and most of the support characters were believable. That said, I found the ending unsatisfactory and contrived. A shame.