Dick Francis has written several books but this is the only one I have read. This is a mystery set in England. Main character is Freddie Croft who runs a business transporting horses for their owners. He is an ex-Jockey and comfortable in the horsing industry. The mystery surrounds one of his drivers breaking the cardinal rule of picking up a hitch-hiker (this is on the book jacket).

This book was slow to start and the main character Freddie is an understated man. There are many characters to keep track of and since they are not memorable sometimes it is hard to keep track of who is who. The storyline and mystery was good enough that I did want to see what would happen. The book picked up steam as it went along and finished strong. The book was enjoyable but not enough for me to want to read more Dick Francis.

n  "It isn't necessary to speculate about the driving force within us, it leaps out and reveals itself. Under pressure, it can't be hidden".n

This is an amazing nail-biting whodunit with sufficient details of steeple chase, horse transport and virology!
Never thought I would learn so much about viruses-both biological and digital, their transport (vector), infection mechanism, mutation etc. in a book by Dick Francis. But here was an interesting info that I learned. Ehrlich was a German Nobel prize winner, who was the founder of immunology and pioneer of chemotherapy.

Freddie Croft is not a super hero and is so endearing. All other characters were equally good.

yuck ... didn't finish

I was reading my grandpa's copy all the way from the early 90s he got it to read on the plane (he was an engineer!!) i miss him so much
Anyway this was so good i didn't guess who it was until the end, genuinely thought freddie was losing his mind most of the time

Not my favorite Dick Francis mystery, but still very good. Listened to on Audible.

Found this book in a box. Thought I had read it, after all...a Dick Francis book about horse racing... Turns out I hadn't. Nice storey about horse transportation and computers and the old Michaelangelo bootsector virus.

Clever and just right romance

I loved the way the protagonist Freddie Croft figured out who the villain was and why he did it. Dick Francis books teach me about a new profession in eac book, not to mention how to solve the insurance and outs of a clever mystery in each book. This is one of his best.

I’ve read about a dozen Dick Francis books — I’m a huge fan, and this is by far the worst. In many ways it doesn’t even seem to be written by the same person. The characters don’t click for me and there’s not the usual intense suspense and narrative drive.

Francis Never Fails

I have read most of his books but until now not this one. I downloaded it to read on holidays and started it on the plane. Less than a day later I've finished it.

Great plot. Lots going on in the transport of horses for their owners.

Slow start, but loved how this one worked.

I categorized this novel as both suspense and mystery, because all of the elements for each genre are there, but honestly, Dick Francis almost deserves his own category. It could be said that his writing is 'formulaic' (same plot, same type of hero-character, same type of conflict, same resolution... the good guy *does* win in the end but often has to go through some pain/danger beforehand!) Certainly for now, I am finding this author addictive.

Freddy Croft (like the author himself) used to be a jockey. He now owns a horse transport business, supervising and coordinating vans and drivers to transfer horses to races and horse farms. When one of his vans pick up a hitchhiker who subsequently dies enroute, Freddy's business troubles begin... and they don't end there.

Someone is obviously out to sabotage Freddy Croft, but who? What could the suspicious metal box discovered underneath his van contain? Who put it there, and why?

The more Freddy tries to find out, the worse things get for him... for a time. With believable, true-to-life characters, a fast-moving plot, and a few surprises thrown in, the reader is pulling for Freddy's success all the way. His mechanic's sudden death is just one of the puzzles in this fast-paced (as always) mystery.