If you want a Victorian detective novel, you read Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. If you want a 1990's police procedural, you read Rankin's Rebus. If you want a house racing thriller, however, you read Dick Francis. That's just how it is.

Francis was a master craftsman and an ex jockey to boot, so when a rider falls, or a horse jumps the last to victory, you really feel it.

At 400 pages, it's one of Francis' longest ones, but it races along; clocking up the chapters as quickly as Kit Fielding (the main protagonist) clocks up the winners.

His books may be dated now (in this one, camcorders are new technology!) but they stand the test of time as stand alone thrillers, with action and adventure in every paragraph.

Money? Yes. Violence? Yes. Romance? Yes. In essence, all the components of a classic Francis story - as close as you'll get to a literary odds-on dead cert. Hurrah!

Trotted out Dick Francis’ Break In to get in the mood for the Triple Crown at Belmont this weekend. Perfect book to re-read if you like horse racing and crime stories:) Kit Fielding remains a perfect hero - modest & unassuming yet braver & smarter than the rest of the field, whether it’s as a championship jockey or an amateur detective. In this “1st Kit Fielding mystery” (back when I first read it, it was only the one), he’s quick to figure out who’s harming his brother in law and whether ruining his stable is collateral damage for something more insidious. This time round, I found the American love interest less than satisfactory, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating how he takes all the obstacles thrown in his path as easily as a novice hurdler at Ascot.

What gave this book the fourth star is Simon Prebble's excellent reading of the audiobook. His narration of the races swept me along, while his rendition of the rest of the story was not as cringe-making as it might have been at the hands of reader who felt it necessary (and they are many) to attempt accents and voices in an attempt to get some kind of audiobook Grammy award.

As for the tale itself, it was oh so very 1980s. I found it hard to believe that a jockey who lives from hand to mouth (or at least from race to race) could quite afford all those fancy dinners in fancy restaurants, all that lobster and roast duck and champagne and what have you. All those rented Mercedes and stays in quiet (ie expensive) hotels. I also wondered if man's-man Gary Stu Fielding would really find that highly placed civil servant's London pied a terre with flowered wallpaper on the ceiling and all those fragile ornaments and ruffled swags of pinkly-pink Laura Ashley fabric quite so "enchanting" as Francis (be he Dick or Mary) said. A woman might, though, and so my vote goes to Mary--and not just because of the swags. I'm a woman myself, and to me it sounds ghastly and Victorian and overdone. And we won't talk about making love on hardwood floors protected only by a folded dust sheet! It might sound sexy but it would be very, very uncomfortable. We won't even discuss the whole telepathy thing, which had been done to death in the 1970s. Francis' real life role as royal jockey gets a nod as Kit rides for the ever-perfect, never-ruffled princess of an unnamed Mitteleuropean country, and he gets the hots for her niece. The Freudian implications of that are best left unplumbed, I think.

Another problem was the recycling of previous motifs: the aged trainer who miscalls the names of both MC and the horses he rides has been done before by Francis. Then there is the plot itself, a turning upside down of Banker, published just three years previously. Instead of a merchant bank in trouble because of the tabloid press, this time it's a trainer being targeted and placed at the mercy of his bank. Gary Stu Kit rides to the rescue as the trainer's wife is his twin, and goes from Mr Perfect Jockey to Godfather-like manipulator of events and people in a very few chapters. There is a bit of a twist, and you have your choice of guilty parties. Nobody's nuts in this one, though one is mostly guilty of aspiring above his class.

I have to say I might not have been able to get through this in print. It was another slooow starter with limited tension, and all the action packed in the final disk or so. Thank you Mr Prebble for an entertaining reading of what might have been pretty darn dire.

This was my absolute favourite when I first raced through all of the Dick Francis books I could get my hands on as a kid. I remembered Maynard, I remembered Holly and also "dustsheets" ... And pretty much nothing else. It is still an excellent story. The obsolete tech was an added delight!

Dick Francis has always provided utterly reliable three star entertainment for me. Always a strong hero, somewhat battered, world-wise and world-weary, with a love of horse racing and a knack for coming out on top. Always some fabulous horses. Always sardonic dialogue. Always some preternatural insight into how actions will lead to consequences. Always some physical hand to hand fighting, often with a knife. Often an attractive, well-drawn but shallowly fleshed out love interest. Often some family entanglement complicating matters. But always, always pleasantly entertaining with low emotional engagement and low stakes. This may be the first time I actively rooted for his protagonist. Actively feared for him, despite knowing it’s book one in a sequence while many of his are standalones. This was GREAT. I am glad there are more for me to read!

Dick Francis novels are good clean fun. The protagonist is always intelligent, smart, and resourceful. There is little doubt who the bad guys are. No real mystery or surprise at the end. Basically a story of good vs evil. A story about morals. They remind me of television shows from the 1950's and 1960's.

The protagonist in this story is Christmas ``Kit`` Fielding, a steeplechase jockey. He and his twin sister, Holly, were born on Christmas day. The Fielding family has had an ongoing feud with the Allardeck family that has gone back for generations. It did not help when Holly married Bobby Allardeck. The only person who did not disapprove the marriage was Kit. So it is only natural that Holly comes to Kit when articles in a gossip column lead to financial ruin for Bobby's horse training business. Suppliers will not do business with Bobby until their bills are paid and owners want their horses returned.

Kit, like all Dick Francis protagonists, is highly intelligent; resourceful; tough, and apparently the only person who can save Bobby and Holly. Being an Allardeck Bobby is reluctant to accept help from a Fielding but is not as obstinate as the older generations. But Kit wins him over … of course. He will save his brother-in-law and sister, win several races, and meet and fall in love with a beautiful woman.

There are several bad guys in this story including a couple of media barons and a Allardeck family member who wants to be a Knight and will trample anyone who gets in his way. Anyone. But media barons and Knight wannabes are no match for Kit Fielding. No surprises, no suspense that will keep you turning the pages but if you are looking for an enjoyable story to pass a few hours you can't go wrong with Dick Francis.

Wow --so exciting!

I have read other books by Dick Francis and enjoyed each one. This one did not disappoint. Good plot, good characters and exciting ending. Leaves me wanting more.

Very good Francis mystery. Less suspenseful and pain inflicted ending then the other books of his that I have read which is the only reason for my 3 star rating as opposed to a 4. Could have done without the unnecessary sex scene and explicit language.

Been reading Dick Francis since I was a preteen! I’m going back and reading through my collection. The 2nd Dick Francis I ever read was BOLT which takes place right after this book. This was classic Dock Francis yet more focused on the horse racing and his sister and brother in law who are a Romeo and Juliet of horse racing. It moved quickly and as usual I couldn’t put it down. Engrossing yet just right as to not be too heavy. Highly recommend

I love Dick Francis. There’s always something about horses and then another “expert area”, such as newspapers, in this instance.

Anyway, the hero is great, the mystery is slow to start but you KNOW it’s going somewhere and the characters are well-drawn, for having so many.

Horse racing, big business, newspapers and nasty villains

Reviewed in the United States

This isn't the first time I've read this book, though I can't quite remember when. as I child I suppose, it's one from my mother's bookshelves. But while this is a mystery and rereading mysteries isn't always the best experience (because it takes away all the surprise), this was still a very solid book.

Maybe it's because I'm a horse girl who is very good at guessing what people think, much like Kit. I loved reading about the horses, the races, life as a jockey. It was so fun.

But more likely, it's because it's extremely well-written. Loveable interesting character. Most of all Kit himself, who is the most resilient, strong, kind, generous, brave, forgiving character I've ever read about. Or the Princess, who is such a sweetheart, so strong so amazing.

The romance was sweet and more importantly didn't get in the way of the plot, but if anything added to it. The mystery wasn't predictable, but there were enough clues for you to figure it out, should you want too. It's not like all to often in mysteries, where the one, important clue to figure things out is intentionally obstructed from the reader, only to be revealed at the end. Over all a very solid book, well worth the read, and even, the reread.