Alexander Kinloch is the descent of Scottish nobility who supports himself in the mountains of Scotland by painting. He has in his possession a sword hilt that had been given to an ancestor by Prince Charles. His troubles begin when thugs ransacks his dwelling looking for the hilt and his stepfather has a heart attack.

I really enjoyed this!!

My grandad recommended it to me (probably solely on the fact that it was set in Scotland and he knows I like Scotland) but I’m so glad he did because it was such a good read.

I loved our main character Alexander Kinloch. He was so mild but strong in his beliefs and passionate. It was a joy to read through his eyes (apart from when he was getting beaten up, that was sad).

The mystery was fun - if a little predictable. I loved all the hiding and intrigue of the hilt, the cup, the horse.

It was just a really fun, exciting read with lovely characters and an intriguing mystery.

Would definitely recommend!

(lmao the amount of times we had a roll credits in this TO THE HILT!!!!!!)

Dick Francis writes an atmospheric mystery, with his protagonist, Alexander Kinloch, living in the Scottish Highlands, with his bagpipes and his paints. He left behind his wife, the racing stables he managed, his mother and stepfather, and his jealous, angry stepsister. Instead, he lives in a shack on the side of a mountain, painting scenes of golf courses, as well as horses racing.

He’s called home at his mother’s cool request, to help his equally cool stepfather save his brewery, after stepfather’s accountant absconded with all the brewery’s money. When the accountant turns up dead, Al must battle, not only his antagonistic extended step family, but also the dangerous person behind the brewery’s problems. He is able to use his clever mind, his attention to detail, and his disinterested attitude toward his stepfather’s assets, to see things at a distance, what his stepfather has refused to see.

Typical Francis hero, with typical family issues, solves the crime with typical analytical style. There were a lot of interesting characters helping Al with his investigation. Rollicking fun, aside from the brutal requisite bad guys.

I hadn't read this author before as I was under the impression that they were dated old racing stories, but I was pleasantly surprised. The main character was an artist which I can relate to being one myself.
I enjoy books set in Scotland and this one had a fabulous setting in the mountains and also in London.

Usually a protagonist in a Dick Francis novel doesn't get badly beaten up and nearly tortured to death until about two-thirds of the way into the book. In this case, though, the lead character, Alexander Kinloch, is savagely beaten and thrown off a mountaintop within the first seven pages!

Kinloch belongs to a prominent family with a long and storied history, but he prefers to live alone on a mountain in Scotland in a run-down house, painting for a living. He's actually pretty good at it and is something of a commercial success. But neither his family nor his wife, from whom he is long separated, can figure the guy out. Returning home from the post office one afternoon, he encounters four rough-looking men who demand to know where "it" is. Kinloch says he has no idea what they are looking for, and apparently the thugs don't know exactly what it is either. And when Kinloch is unable to tell them where "it" is, even though he's been badly beaten, the men throw him off the aforementioned mountain in frustration.

Happily, Kinloch survives, only to learn that his stepfather has suffered a heart attack. He races to his mother's side and discovers that the business owned by his stepfather has been brought to near-ruin by a trusted employee who has embezzled millions of dollars and disappeared. The stepfather begs Kinloch to try to save the business.

There are other characters with axes to grind, including those who are still looking for "it" and who won't be satisfied until they get it. It's a heavy load for Kinloch, who is a typical Dick Francis protagonist, and anyone who has read more than three or four of these novels will recognize him immediately. It's a fairly engrossing tale, but I was bothered by the fact that, in order to get to the climax, Kinloch must do something Incredibly Stupid, simply for the sake of forcing a resolution to the story.

He's asked to do something which is the equivalent of the proverbial nubile virgin who decides to walk down into a darkened basement in a horror movie with only a candle to guide her. Every reader will know that he's being set up and that what he is doing makes no sense at all. But if he doesn't, there will be no setting things straight, and so...

A good read, knocked down from four stars to three because the author made the protagonist act so stupidly at the end.

classic Dick Francis. All the components of a good thriller.

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.

Masterfully done. I have reread all of Dick Francis' books and they are always intriguing with twists and surprise villains in every one. 'To the Hilt' brings us into a Scots world of old families and castles, and heirlooms. Who is to inherit, for love or for money. A guy, who just wants the simple life of an artist painting on a lonely hillside is drawn into the family politics by a step-dad on his death bed. The horse race, sponsored by the step-dad's company (whose accountant has absconded with all the funds of the company) is the only saving grace...so why is the lowly artist being 'fried' to stop it from happening? A compelling and familiar feeling of love for his mother, respect for his step-father, and lack of understanding of his step-sister's actions. To entangle it further is the prized possession of the family gift from a King long ago, and its rightful owner, the family or England?

I thought I'd read all of Dick Francis' many books, so finding To the Hilt was a pleasant surprise. Not sure how it got by me.

It was classic Francis, although I think he went on a little long. He wrote about three endings, two more than he needed.

Nonetheless -- it was a brand new Dick Francis book for me. Whoohoo!

I just adored the lead character, a young man who rejects the family wealth to live in a minimalist bothy in the Highlands without electricity so he can paint. The descriptions of how he sees the world as an artist and how he goes about painting were wonderful. He is called out of his seclusion to help his ill step-father save his brewery after being embezzled. The step-father can't trust his own obnoxious daughter. Alexander is so full of integrity and forgiveness for those who misuse him that you have to love him. We need more such heroes in print (and life). This is the first Dick Francis novel I've read, but I will look for more.

Dick Francis had a gift for looking into the soul of his characters and spinning a story that had me turning the pages till the early morning hours. To the hilt is my favorite. The power of his imagery and the skill with which he wove this story together had me rereading it many times. At the core, this is a story of a brilliant but eccentric artist drawn out of the solitude he treasures to save those he cares for - at great expense to himself. I loved the way the author captured the artist in the frenzy of creation amid life-threatening drama. I swore I smelled turpentine and the ending...wow.

I realize that there is a common thread in Francis' novels - you've got a good guy who basically gets in the thick of events by circumstance, or because other people like piling their problems upon him. Furthermore, the same guy often finds himself dodging physical attacks/murder attempts while trying to sort out the $h!t the aforementioned other people piled upon him. Of course, somewhere in there is a (strong or feeble) link with horse racing, another of Francis' trademarks.

Summed up like that, that recipe sounds quite formulaic. But in the case of To the hilt, it works. And I mean, works. The novel opens up with a bang, i.e., four thugs beating the stuffing out of the protagonist, Al Kinloch, a painter who lives a secluded life in the Scottish mountains. He quickly becomes involved in various family matters, and from there, things start to get interesting. I really enjoyed reading the novel, simply because it's well written, and got me so hooked that I had to keep reading in even when I wasn't supposed to during my lectures. The body count is not high, far from it, but that doesn't detract from the plot, which is interesting and flows with a nice pace. The novel is a bit unconventional in the sense that the main character is just caught up in consequences which were not of his doing, but still exerts himself (on behalf of his family members), even though there is nothing in it for him. (In all reality, Alexander just wants to live his solitary life and paint.) The lively and quirky characters he meets along the way added a comic relief to the story - a nice touch that is oftentimes lacking in a crime/mystery novel.

All in all, this is a nice, fun read for people who have time on their hands, but don't want a hard 'n' heavy thriller.