And also just reread this book for about the millionth time. Less fun of a read than Break In because worse things happen and Kit isn't in as great a place…but just as compelling and awesome. Where's my Kit Fielding? I've been waiting for him for FOREVER.

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.

Racist, sexist and formulaic, Dick Francis novels are still often fun. This one, less so than some others.

Such an abundance of jockey information from a professional! This story revolves around people of power and royalty, another part of the life of Dick Francis. He had been the jockey for the Queen Mother many years ago.

The greed and power plays by two incredible villains kept the story a page turner. The methods and privilege with abuse are readily displayed.

Dick Francis is quite an extraordinary character and his books reveal his many lovely characteristics.

I just re-read this one. Dick Francis is a wonder...fantastic mystery! Read Break-In first.

Jockey Kit Fielding returns for a second appearance in this novel from Dick Francis, and he faces all sorts of problems. He's engaged to the love of his life, Danielle, but he fears that she is slipping away from him and that she may be losing enthusiasm for the prospect of life as a jockey's wife. The fact that she's gone of to Italy in the company of a sophisticated prince to look at Italian Renaissance paintings, isn't helping Kit's mood much.

But, while he worries about his future with Danielle, Kit is suddenly faced with more pressing problems. He rides several horses owned by Danielle's aunt, Princess Casilia. The princess, in turn, is married to Roland de Brescou, a member of the French aristocracy, who is a partner in a French construction company. De Brescou is an elderly man with a debilitating illness and he rarely leaves his room in the couple's London mansion.

Sadly, de Brescou's original partner has died, and the partner's shares in the company have been inherited by a particularly nasty character named Henri Nanterre. Nanterre wants the company to go into business of manufacturing guns for the world arms trade, but de Brescou steadfastly refuses, thinking that such a move would be immoral.

Nanterre can take no action without de Brescou's signature on the contract and he is determined to get it at any cost. He threatens everyone in the family, Kit included, with great bodily harm, or worse. He also threatens to kill the horses belonging to the Princess. In short, this is not a very genteel kind of a guy.

It will be up to Kit to try to foil Nanterre's scheme and to protect de Brescou's family and himself in the process. He will also have to foil the prince who may have designs on Danielle, and so he's in for a few hectic days.

This is a fairly good book, typical of most Dick Francis novels. Kit Fielding is a worthy protagonist, and the plot moves quickly along. If I have any complaint, it lies in the fact that, for all of the dire threats leveled by Henri Nanterre, and in spite of the truly despicable things that he actually does, there didn't seem to be as much tension in this book as there usually is in a novel by Dick Francis. This may result from that fact that, unlike in most of Francis's novels, here we know who the bad guy is from the start, and that drains some of the usual mystery and suspense from the book. A solid 3.5 stars, but not quite as good as the best books in the series.

There are a number of objectionable people in this book, and the narrator and his friends all agree that the main goal is to handle these people politely and discreetly. The story thus ends with one villain dying at someone else's hands (with the real story untold), another (even worse) villain thwarted in his bad intentions toward the protagonists but free to wreak havoc on the rest of the unsuspecting world, and a third terrible person (accessory to one of the others) rewarded with more money. The hero and his friends agree that neither the police nor the general public should be warned about any of this and that, above all, everything should be handled politely. So extreme is this imperative that, even when one of the villains arrives as an unwelcome guest at the protagonists's house, making their lives miserable through incessant nasty comments, and actually spying on them (and they know this), it doesn't occur to anyone to boot this villain out of the house. Everything in this book is so diametrically opposed to my sense of justice and the common good that it detracted from my ability to enjoy the story.

⭐️ 2.5 stars ⭐️

I enjoyed how the main characters developed a little more in this book. It left me wanting to see what happens to everyone in the next book.

Kit Fielding fights to save his employer, the Princess, from destruction of her (husband's) honor. I love Dick Francis, and I do love Kit Fielding, but this was kind of meh. The villain's motivations were pretty weak, the plot dragged for quite a while, and non-love-triangle got super annoying. The end picked up a bit, and the ending was unexpected and satisfying.

I just reread this book, and I loved it as much if not more than the first time I read it. It was nice to be able to read both of the Kit Fielding stories back to back. I highly recommend this author. Dick Francis is the best!

I honestly remembered nothing of the plot, not the Danielle angle, not the visiting prince, not the pink-haired Beatrice nor the bully menace; I'd even forgotten the four gruesome, heart-wrenching deaths! But, through it all, I kept thinking I knew who used the bolt -- and in that, I was right.
Crackling good story!