This mystery/crime story has some things going for it, namely its setting, which is the life of a rising jockey, very well described and one that I hadn't encountered before. But it unfortunately has many other characteristics that I didn't find on par with my preferences.

The "main story" doesn't progress fast enough for me, after one third of the book you're still not sure if you're reading something fishy or simply the biography of a jockey who has a few anecdotes for us. And even if it was the latter that could still be fine, but I didn't find any of the characters to be... good, let's put it like that. The main one is OK, nothing special, but the other ones are kind of empty.

So, I didn't have a bad experience reading this, it's a fine read, but the book couldn't grab my full interest. I would recommend reading the first couple of chapters, and if you really like it then continue, but if you're still expecting it to tense up, well you will have to wait a lot.

I love Dick Francis mysteries. The main characters are fallible, but committed to a code of honor they will not break no matter what pressure is brought to bear. They are resourceful, persistent and unwilling to compromise with evil. They care passionately about the rights of others and defend them. And there's almost always a connection to horse racing.

This has an excellent A-plot, in which Rob Finn, a struggling jockey from a family of musicians, is the target of a plot to undermine his career. This book is impossible to put down starting from the first paragraph, in which a jockey shoots himself in front of Rob.

The B-plot, in which Rob tries to court his true love who won't marry him because they're cousins, is less successful. Francis is a bit hit-or-miss with romance. Some of his romances are fantastic. This one never quite worked for me - Joanna's "totally cousins" objection seemed a bit ridiculous and lampshading it didn't help. I never quite bought their relationship.

But the slow disintegration of Rob's career is nailbitingly readable, even though there's no physical jeopardy until about halfway through. The showpiece action sequence, in which Rob is kidnapped, blindfolded and chained, drenched in water on a freezing night, and must free himself and then race the next day, is brilliantly done. Nice comfort via hot soup afterward, too.

This is the second Dick Francis book that I’ve read and I really enjoy them. They aren’t overly complicated mysteries but they are fast paced and something is always happening. Not to mention his books all have something to do with the horse world….mainly the steeplechase world.

With this being Francis’s second book (I am trying to read them in publication order) I can definitely tell his writing has improved but his style remains in tact. Like his first book, his main characters seems to be a little on the gritty side, boarding on full on questionable, but yet the reader continues to form an attachment to them. His characters are always fully developed and they realize their limitations and their strengths which I like. I also like a story where the good guys win and the bad guys get their comeuppances, there is a clear resolution and the story doesn’t feel unfinished.

I also like that Francis always tries to please female readers with a hint of a romance for the main character. I don’t know that it’s entirely necessary to the plot but it is fun to have a little love interest to break up the horse world and mystery parts as well as show a different side of the main character to the reader.

The dialogue and plot are tight which keeps the plot on track and moving along quickly. Everything has a purpose and advances the ‘mystery’. What I think I enjoyed a lot about this book was that it wasn’t a ‘murder’ mystery but yet it unfolded like it was a murder mystery if that makes sense.

I also really enjoy Francis’s descriptions of the horse racing world. Not just the race courses and the sport itself but the horses themselves. He does an excellent job at making the reader truly feel the power of the horse and the thrill of racing. As a fellow horse person myself, I find it hard to describe what it is about horses that are so thrilling to non horse people……how does one describe the power and elation at clearing a fence on a horse with a mind of its own? It’s extremely difficult for non horse people to understand and even harder to explain…..but Francis is able to articulate that feeling for non horse people so well, his readers can scarcely deny his knowledge and descriptions of the race world and the love that comes with being around horses.

See my full review here

I have been a Dick Francis fan for many years, which is not the same as being a mystery fan, as I read few of them. However, I am a horse person and I have always loved the way he was able to convert a successful career as a steeplechase jockey riding Queen Elizabeth's horses (among many others) into a second career as a bestselling author. The authenticity he brings to everything set around the track just leaps off the page. I actually like many of these earlier books better than the later ones when he had perfected his craft because of that closeness to the track and the horses.

The other thing he does very well is characterization. His characters are always so...mature. No whiners, no quitters, no fly-off-the-handle over-reactors here. They may exact horrific revenge on the bad guy, but it is always a thinking man's revenge, very apropos to the crime. Their guts and dogged persistence in the face of personal demons and pain is very much worth reading about, because society seems to be trending toward the wimpy, empathetic types who roll over from evil without a blink for fear of offending anyone. Give me Francis and his characters' ability to see a thing through to the end.

Classic Dick Francis - this has everything I love in his storytelling. Straightforward prose, simple, almost plain, yet enticing characters, galloping plot line which together packed a big mystery punch! However, the most unnerving thing in this novel for me was the very outdated relationship/sexual tension between cousins - even I don't remember that in the 1970s/80s! But otherwise, brill and was sad to finish the book as wanted to keep tucked up on the sofa with it...

A friend suggested I read Dick Francis. After the first book I thought, "Okay, pretty good. Writing is solid. Plot works. I like the main character." I thought I would read the second and find it similar to the first. It is, in that the writing is solid and the plot good. But it is not a formulaic echo. Nor is the third of Francis' books, which I read very quickly after finishing the second.

Read it once more. Will continue to do so, I guess. Reread them all!

Easily the best of the 20+ Dick Francis novels I have read thus far. This was the 2nd novel written by Dick Francis (1964) and it is obvious he had improved and honed his writing skills during the 2 year hiatus following his first novel Dead Cert in 1962. Francis was at the top his game with this one. A classic, well-written punchy mystery using the British horseracing industry as a backdrop, and a novel that established Francis as a serious literary player and kick-started a hugely successful 50+ year writing empire.

I raided my sisters amazing library so I would have something to read while I’m here. I wanted something light and interesting and she recommended Dick Francis. He is a British author from the 60’s who’s books are set in the horse racing world and usually have some form of mystery.
I loved the world of horse racing and the plot definitely kept me interested. There was a little bit of weirdness with the main character being in love with his cousins, but that seems to be more common among the British.

DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE AND HER PEERS
BOOK 6
Unfortunately, my library did not have Francis' first fiction, Dead Cert, so I started with this novel.
CAST – 3 stars: Rob Finn, narrator, is an up-and-coming race jockey. He has rebelled against his musical family: Mrs. Olivia Finn, mother, pianist; Sir Trelaway Finn, uncle, conductor and others (mostly outside the novel). He is in love with Joanna, a cousin but unrelated genetically in some way. Maurice Kemp Lowe is a TV show host, the show about horse racing, jockeys, trainers, runs, etc. Among Finn’s fellow jockeys are Art Matthews, Tick Tock Ingersoll, Peter Clooney, Jr., and Grant Oldfield. Trainer Corin Keller and James Axminster, owner of one of the largest stables in England, has 60 horses and is a fan of young Finn.
ATMOSPHERE –4: This setting is new to me, the field of horse racing. The horses, training, stables, jockeys, owners, races, publicity, betting are all rendered nicely. The universe of the villain is done particularly well, his methods and his madness
PLOT/CRIME – 3: The book opens with the shooting suicide of Art Matthews, witnessed at racing stables by Finn and others. Art and fellow jockeys have been mentally and emotionally undermined in several ways. When Finn becomes an overnight sensation, he is interviewed on Kemp Lowe’s show, made to look foolish, and begins an inexplicable losing streak.
INVESTIGATION and RESOLUTION – 2 stars for each element: Even I, knowing little about this world, deducted how the jockeys were turned into losers overnight, one of them losing his job completely. But the motive is the big issue, and that motive is only revealed toward the end of the novel. Finn sets out to redeem his friends and to get revenge on a certain villain, but this redemption and revenge portion of the novel is much too long.
SUMMARY – 2.8 overall. A surprise, as I didn't think I'd enjoy a novel about horse racing.. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author: he did win many awards and he does credit his wife as his co-author.

I really enjoyed the story line in this novel of Francis'. Sometimes his stories start out with horrendous acts that seem to continue on forever. This time though he had some good times mixed with the bad so the pill was not as bitter to swallow.