Story : B
Narration by Simon Prebble: A

I think I read Dick Francis' entire backlist several decades ago when I read mysteries almost exclusively. I enjoyed the fusion of mystery and racehorses, having worked at several US tracks as an exercise rider in my 20's. When I saw that Audible had quite a few of his titles on Audible Plus with the excellent narrator, Simon Prebble, it was a no brainer to try them in audio. I picked the first Kit Fielding book for the test run, and found I enjoyed it very much. Written in the 80's, it could have felt dated, and certainly technology of all kinds has advanced a great deal, making some of the "cutting edge" tech in the book feel a bit quaint. Instead of feeling dated, it was fun to be reminded of that time period. And the human motivations behind the mystery are all too current and believable. Kit's perhaps a little too perfect, but I still liked him as the POV character.

I'll definitely be listening to more of the Dick Francis book on Audible Plus.

Possible spoiler here...continue reading at your own peril.




There's no murder in this one, but lots of crime, so not a typical mystery as most involve solving at least one murder.
Thoroughly enjoyable. Likeable characters, even some we're not supposed to like by the book's end. Everyone is pretty relatable. I felt myself pulling for the lot of them.

I'm going to continue with my mission to get all of the Dick Francis novels read. So far, haven't read one that I didn't really enjoy.

I kept being tempted to not finish this book. The plot did nothing for me. I kept reading to be sure the goodies won and the baddies lost. The thing that bothered me most was the incorrect use of 1st person singular pronoun. If the writer continually used the incorrect form, the editor should have corrected it and informed the writer of his consistent error. Poor writing and poor editing is a good reason to avoid this author in the future.

Another solid outing by Francis, this one a little more focused on racing, but still enjoyable. The slight supernatural element is fun, as well.

I do so enjoy Dick Francis. I have read all his books and they are just as good the second or third time around. I like the characters and the different occupations they are in, all horse racing related in some way.

What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either directly or indirectly. The heroes aren't always horse jockies, they can be film producers, or involve heroes engaged in peripheral professions that somehow always touch the horse racing world.

But more than that, Francis's heroes are rational human beings. The choices made are rational choices directed by a firm objective philosophy that belies all of Francis's novels. The dialogue is clear and touched with humor no matter the intensity of evil that the hero faces. The hero's thoughts reveal a vulnerability that is touching, while his actions are always based on doing the right thing to achieve justice.

Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.

You will come to love the world of Steeple Chase racing, you will grow a fondness for horses, stables, trainers and the people who live in that world. You will read the books, devouring one after the other and trust me Dick Francis has a lot of novels (over 40 by my last count).

There are several series woven into the fabric of Francis's work: notably the Sid Halley and Kit Fielding series.

Assessment: Dick Francis is one of my favorite writers. I read his books with a fierce hunger that remains insatiable and I mourn his death.

I always enjoy reading a good Dick Francis novel. In this one, I really enjoyed the family dynamic that I don't remember reading with his before. They are pretty clean, the language isn't too bad, and not a lot of sex.... Sometimes I even reread the books, because it's like being with a friend you haven't seen in several years. I really enjoy the characters he uses, and also enjoy the series he writes about too. I'm not a gambler, but I really enjoy watching them live, as well as on screen. There is a certain excitement that I don't find in many other places.

Audible edition: How have I missed this author all these years?? This one was published in 1985 and is going to go down as one of my all time faves! It has mystery, family dynamics, a bit of romance, horse racing!, and character development, and all done with a main character who has honesty, integrity, and good manners! And notably is without a grisly murder or rape or child abduction. The only thing I've rolled my eyes at a bit is that he does kiss the cheeks of women he didn't know well (just no!) and has issue with female jockeys, as they can't roll with it like men can, but beyond that, my goodness! I've enjoyed this one! And with that confidence, I purchased three more titles by the author. I'm now in love with the narrator, Simon Prebble, and he will rival Ralph Cosham as my favorite male narrator. His voices are some of the best I've heard. Not only that, but in looking at titles for this author and listening to the samples, I have found that Ralph Cosham also recorded under the name of Geoffrey Howard! Woohoo! New titles to line my Audible shelves for bedtime stories for years to come!

Loved this one and love Kit, Christmas Fielding and his twin Holly! Born on Christmas day. Great read

When his twin sister asks for help, Kit can’t say no. Even when it’s to help his brother-in-law, and the family feud between them goes back centuries.

I know, I read dick Francis a lot. But I liked this one because it was a bit different. No one gets killed (sorry for the spoiler). Instead, the premise is that a guy gets randomly attacked by tabloid media. He almost loses his business. Then Kit tries to figure out why and undo the harm the press has caused. It was quite interesting and not as simple as the usual she said he said or revenge plot. Ok, there may be a little bit of revenge, but it’s still quite un-orthodox.

What makes Dick Francis books compelling is not the horses but the banality of the motives and actors. This could happen here, to me or people I know. These aren't plots out of comic books, these aren't supervillains, these aren't crimes committed to take over the world. These are ordinary people committing crimes due to greed, anger, envy, lust who do ordinary things to get what they want. The horses provide background and colour in every novel - and add a realistic level of detail to what is already a more realistic story than I usually encounter in crime stories or thrillers. It's this perspective that gives me joy when reading one of his books. The down-beat nature of his stories makes it easier to suspend our disbelief and be transported into the story.
This story of a jockey involved in a conspiracy to destroy his brother-in-law's horse training business has all the best hallmarks of Dick Francis and that is all you need to know to read it.

completely delightful. I'm a long-time Dick Francis fan (like back to when this book was written - before time of cell phones and internet news :-) and while I'm sure I must've read this one, I didn't remember it. not at all a bad thing - just think how many others I can "re-discover".