This story has less to do with horses than most Dick Francis novels. It is extraordinarily informational about painting techniques and acrylics, some history of Scotland, including bagpipes, and some about banking. Al, the painter, is asked to hide some historic artifacts that his family owns but zealous historians believe should be given to museums as there seems to be no regard between personal items and real property. Whoever Dick Francis interviewed for the Scottish perspective of Scottish history had very strong feelings. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Mad Alexander only wants to stay on his mountain top and paint. When his stepfather Ivan, has a heart attack, he gets drawn into the family drama including hidden treasure, embezzled funds, a quick changing private detective, brutal thugs and a baffling murder to boot. The action is fast but you have time to know and love (or hate) the characters.

I'm finding that his earlier books are much better than the later ones. It seems to me that the later ones follow the same general outline. A man is charged with protecting or finding something, they are beaten to force them to give up, which they never do, and eventually the thing is either revealed or found, once the bad guys are caught, of course. Come to think of it, maybe this is the same outline for all of his books but the earlier ones were written better and contained more interesting subjects and were more closely related to the horse racing industry. In this case, the man is Al and he had been given several things to protect - a thoroughbred horse, a golden cup, an ancient hilt and a codicil to a will - and several millions of dollars to find that were embezzled from his stepfather's business. He is beaten by thugs, thought to be hired by his stepsister's husband but they turned out to be hired by the lawyer in cahoots with the embezzler. And everything is safe after his stepfather's death bequeathed some of the items and after the embezzler is found dead once he gave a list of account numbers and locations to his sister for safe keeping. Al gets the list, is beaten again by the lawyer's thugs but is saved before giving up the list's hiding spot. Using the list, the auditors and bankers eventually track down the money and everyone lives happily ever after.

Alexander Kinloch, the protagonist of this novel, is an eccentric member if an aristocratic Scottish family. Instead of joining upper-class society with the rest of his kinsfolk, he prefers an isolated cabin in a wild section of Scotland, where he pursues his chosen profession of painting landscapes and portraits. A family crisis draws him into dangerous events though which he discovers that despite his loner proclivities, his deepest loyalties are to his clan chieftain, despite the risks to his life and limbs.

First Read: I always enjoy reading a good Dick Francis novel. 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.

Second Read: The ""hilt"" of Francis's delightful 35th thriller refers to the jewel-encrusted, solid gold handle of the ceremonial sword of Scotland's would-be king, Bonnie Prince Charlie. A descendant of the Scottish earl to whom the prince gave the hilt, narrator Alexander Kinloch lives in an unelectrified bothy in the Scottish mountains, supporting himself through his paintings. Al's keen visual sense allows him to draw the faces of the four thugs who beat him and tear apart his home in the opening chapter. ""Where is it?"" they demand, establishing the leitmotif of concealed objects that Francis weaves through the plot. Hard on the beating, Al must rush to London to comfort his mother in the aftermath of her husband's heart attack. Al learns that his stepfather's brewery is about to collapse because the finance director has absconded with millions of pounds. In desperation, the business affairs of the brewery are turned over to Al, though he pines for solitude, his easel and the mountains. A Francis novel wouldn't be complete without thoroughbred racing; in fact, Al's estranged wife is a race trainer, and one of the many things Al has to hide is Golden Malt, his stepfather's steeplechaser, slated to run in the King Alfred Gold Cup--unless Al's spiteful stepsister can steal the horse first. The diverse plot threads tie up neatly, but not before Al achieves an understated emotional breakthrough with his wife and with his undemonstrative mother, endures gruesome torture with hardly a murmur and wins his stepsister's trust. Likable characters abound: a PI who's a master of disguise; the earl, ""Himself,"" who trusts Al to hide the ancestral hilt; a solvency practioner whose flowered dresses and soft hair help persuade bankers to give the brewery a second chance. Earlier this year, the Mystery Writers of America honored Francis as a Grand Master; this novel again shows why.

I’ve enjoyed most of Dick Francis’ work to some degree, but this is a personal favourite. Like so many of his books we have a self-deprecating main character with one area of expertise in life who is otherwise a bit of an odd outsider, thrust into the thick of things by a crime that affects the few people he cares about. How to protect those people and foil the criminals is the heart of the story and what a fun story it is!

Classic Dick Francis story and done well. How I wish I hadn't gotten rid of all my paperbacks years ago. This came by as a Kindle Daily Deal and now I want to re-read all his books. Good stuff.

Another enjoyable Dick Francis thriller. This one did make my blood boil when it came to the antagonists. Nobody writes absolutely despicable and hateful characters quite like Dick Francis. It's something of a feature in his books. Regardless, I did hate Alexander's stepsister and her family. They got off way too lightly... :-)

One more abridged audiobook...

TO THE HILT - Ex
Francis, Dick - 35th book

The "hilt" refers to the jewel-encrusted, solid gold handle of the ceremonial sword of Scotland's would-be king, Bonnie Prince Charlie. A descendant of the Scottish earl to whom the prince gave the hilt, narrator Alexander Kinloch lives in an unelectrified bothy in the Scottish mountains, supporting himself through his paintings. Al's keen visual sense allows him to draw the faces of the four thugs who beat him and tear apart his home in the opening chapter. "Where is it?" they demand. Hard on the beating, Al must rush to London to comfort his mother in the aftermath of her husband's heart attack.

Al learns that his stepfather's brewery is about to collapse because the finance director has absconded with millions of pounds. In desperation, the business affairs of the brewery are turned over to Al, though he pines for solitude, his easel and the mountains. A Francis novel wouldn't be complete without thoroughbred racing; in fact, Al's estranged wife is a race trainer, and one of the many things Al has to hide is Golden Malt, his stepfather's steeplechaser, slated to run in the King Alfred Gold Cup?unless Al's spiteful stepsister can steal the horse first.

If I had to pick one Francis book as my favorite, this might be it, probably because I love the setting in Scotland, bagpipes and the idea of family history and tradition. This, and "Decider" are two of his books I re-read frequently.

My 32nd Dick Francis book and I really enjoyed it-read in one sitting on a Sunday morning. A reclusive artist gets drawn into a family crisis when his stepfather suffers a heart attack

This is the 1st Dick Francis book I read, and I liked it. It was a good page turning, the characters were interesting and clever, and it did not require much brain power.