My sister and I listened to this on a weekend road trip. Perfect for the car. We both love Dick Francis and this one didn't disappoint (except for one unexpected death late in the story). Especially fun that some of the story was set in Wyoming - Rock Springs, the Tetons, Jackson Hole... we lived there in the mid-1970's.

I did not know that this was published in 1967 until I was done with it. A very smart, timeless mystery.

When Dave Tellers prized race horses, that are worth millions, start mysteriously disappearing and then there is an attempt on his life, he enlists the help of Gene Hawkins, an English agent, who is known for his brilliance at solving cases. Gene is extremely methodical and has an amazing gift of perception, on the flip side he is also in a constant state of depression which he is able to hide very well.

The intricacies of the race horsing world are described and made easy to understand for the layman. The racing, siring, tattooing and care of these stately animals are all very interesting aspects of this great mystery. This story was highly engaging and I am looking forward to reading more of Dick Francis's intelligent and clean writing. Geoffrey Howard did a great job narrating and his different accents were performed extremely well.

2020 reread: downgrading to 3.5*
Not one of my favorites of Dick Francis's books but still well above average mystery/suspense book. This one is one of the few in which the main character is not himself really a "horse person" though apparently he grew up riding. What really struck me in this reread was how depressed Gene is (and how well Francis wrote that attitude).

Early book that had been referred to in several of his later books that feature Syd the ex jockey minus one hand. This is the story that tells how the crippled hand became no hand. Love the characters and understanding their early relationships to each other made the later books feel more complete/rich.

You don't realise how long ago a book you're reading was written until they talk about identifying horses based on blood types and you're thinking, why don't you just do a simple DNA test. Then you turn to the page to see when it was first published and realise that an interesting book stays interesting even though it was written AGES ago. I really enjoyed the story. It was a good summer read.

This is the first Dick Francis novel I've read and it was a huge surprise. I would never have picked it up but it was a book club choice so I gave it a go. I really enjoyed it. It was well paced with rounded and interesting characters and a satisfying plot. Even though it was written in 1967 it didn't feel dated. I will definitely read more.

A really solid thriller from the 60s against a horsey background, Francis' usual territory, which also tackles a couple of social issues as relevant now as 50 years ago and foreign travel, which is not the novelty it would have been then. Plus ca change, as they say in the South. One of the social issues is probably a bit edgier than it was, but he just about gets away with it, and it's a reminder how attitudes change.

While I like a good mystery, I thought this one moved very slowly. It took a few pages of reading to get into the story, and even then I wished it would get to the point. The ending was disappointing in how it continued the same slow pace.

If I get desperate, I may read another Dick Francis book, but it won't be any time soon.

This was the best Dick Francis I've read so far. It grabbed me from the first to the last page.
It is about stallions that inexplicably disappear during transport and can no longer be found. If it weren't for Gene Hawkins, a secret agent who is looking for these stallions in the USA after the owner barely escaped death on a boat trip on the Thames.
With unorthodox methods and the help of the insurance agent, Hawkins sets out to find them. He soon realizes that he is dealing with an evil couple who do not stop at killing people.

Po dlouhé době jsem četla detektivku. A navíc takovou tradiční! Proti všem těm severským thrillerům plných násilí a úchyláků bylo skvělý přečíst si příběh, který je úplně reálný.
Děj super, dialogy super, zápletka super, byla jsem překvapivě nadšená :)

OK, I needed a break from the contemporary romance I was reading so fell back on DF my go to author. This is one of my favorites. Has an interesting twist to include the horse racing fraternity, some nice humor, and a deep understanding of the effects of depression. From my collection.
Oh, well, it looks like in 2024 I will be rereading my collection of Dick Francis. Once I start I just have to keep going….. Will try to sneak some library books in too but guess September is going to be a lot of Francis.

Gene Hawkins is an English civil servant--actually a very astute investigator for a department that is never named. He's also severely depressed following the end of a love affair and is toying with the idea of suicide. He has a three-week vacation coming, and this is probably not good news for a man who has no life outside of his work and who is thinking of ending his own life.

Just as his vacation begins though, Hawkins's boss asks him to accompany him and his family on a Sunday afternoon boating outing. This is very odd, since the boss has never before asked Hawkins to socialize outside of work. The boss's precocious young daughter picks Hawkins up and drives him to the boat. They cast off and the boss introduces Gene to the rest of his family and to his other guest, a man named Dave Teller.

Obviously, there's an ulterior motive lurking behind the invitation, and it turns out that Teller is part of a syndicate that has just lost a very expensive horse in the United States. This is the third such horse that has gone missing, the boss wonders if Hawkins would mind using his vacation to go to the U.S. and investigate the matter as a favor to Teller.

Hawkins has no interest in undertaking such a mission and turns the offer down. But then, while the party is still on the river, an incident occurs that convinces Hawkins to change his mind. Before long he's on his way to the U.S. and begins tracking the latest missing horse. Obviously, this is going to be a very dangerous mission, But his adversaries have no idea that Hawkins is already contemplating ending his own life, so what does he have to lose?

This book is a bit unusual for a Dick Francis novel in that most of it takes place in the U.S., rather than the U.K. And, while there are horses involved, the main protagonist is not actually part of the racing world. It's a fun, quick read, but maybe not quite on a par with a lot of other Dick Francis books. Hawkins is an OK protagonist, but one of the things that usually characterizes a Dick Francis novel is an especially menacing bad guy who's controlling things from behind the scenes. The villains here are not as scary as usual, but that's a relatively small complaint and fans of Dick Francis should certainly enjoy this effort.