I continue to read and learn

What a way to inform Joe Public into the background work involved in British racing, training for the system to operate. I Lund it VERY hard to put this book down once I had started and once again Dick Francis lead me up paths I was completely unaware of. Thanks.

I read this book solely at the recommendation of a friend. Despite knowing nothing about horse racing, I really enjoyed this book. It's very clear that Francis has done the research on the racing world.
The writing is nicely done, and I enjoyed getting to know Kelly Hughes. I think people who enjoy the Hamish Macbeth series by MC Beaton will appreciate this. I've discovered I like British and Scottish fiction better than modern American fiction. I think the mystery was nicely plotted, and the plot was well-paced.
I would definitely read more of this series.

Enquiry wasn't Mr. Francis' best work. It was certainly readable (I finished it, and I have no qualms about dropping books that aren't worth my time) but it lacked the snap-and-crackle and depth of most of his other works. Upon finishing I thought it might have been his first novel, because it felt like he may have just not gotten the trick of a rich plot yet, but I later learned it was his 8th. I'm glad that I've already read most of his others and therefore know Enquiry is an exception, not the rule.

During the pandemic I've been re-reading some of the Francis' books on my shelves. There's nothing not to like about any of his horse mysteries. This one was quite clever in pacing, storyline, characterization and style. Francis' dry Brit wit rules every story, no matter the plot. In this one, warned off jockey Kelly Hughes claims he's been framed and goes about clearing his name and the trainer he rides for. He succeeds at a cost. No better scene than dueling crutches midway through or the one where he just misses being smashed by the early morning mail train. He's a tough nut to kill and those after him re-consider approach. More page turning, a budding romance, a race at the end and wins. An excellent read.

I really enjoyed this novel and raced through it very quickly. I'm obviously getting familiar with Dick Francis' work because I guessed who the villain was (and the motive) within a sentence of him being mentioned, although I did start to second-guess myself toward the end of the book. A fast-paced thriller which may not be Francis' best but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Once again I am never quite sure if an audio telling of a story hinders or helps a novel. But Dick Francis was a first-rate storyteller (Ralph Cosham) and in this case the narration of Enquiry only added to the enjoyment. It has been awhile since I indulged in a Dick Francis mystery, and I am so glad I did.

This novel was written in 1969. Its a bit dated, as far as one twist goes, in the novel, and luckily thoughts have changed since then. But it’s still a good, enjoyable novel that keeps you listening until the end.

Weirdly enough, this particular edition shown here on goodreads is the only version of this novel I could find, that wasn’t included with other novels. I’m not sure why this novel hasn’t had all its variations shown here, but this is confusing and annoying.
So while this edition shows this novel is a bunch of CDs read by Tony Britton, this is not the edition I found. I listened to the audiobook made by Audible, which has the wonderful Ralph Cosham as the narrator. Hopefully goodreads gets it’s shit together, soon.

Ralph Cosham, btw, is wonderful.

3.5 stars

All Dick Francis's novels fall into a basic pattern - stoical, likable 1st person narrator, bit of romance, some connection to horse racing, torture scene, resolution. The delight comes from how he makes each one a bit different (is the narrator a jockey? and earl, a wine merchant?). The set up for this book is the unique feature. As always, satisfying.

Dick Francis wrote over 40 novels, and Enquiry is an early one--it was his eighth published work of fiction (his first book was an autobiography chronicling his career as a steeplechase jockey). And while his work has a consistent gentle rise in quality, I still love his earlier works for their economy of words and their no-nonsense, straightforward unfolding of the plot. Enquiry of course is about horse racing, about which I know almost nothing (about all I do know, I've learned from reading Dick Francis novels), and that's another charm of his works: the view of the English steeplechase world that can only come from an insider. My favorite all-time Dick Francis novel is still Nerve (which, by the way, was his second published novel), but Enquiry was entertaining and worth investing a couple of hours of my time.

Bit of a slow start, but once it got moving it was enjoyable. If you're looking for a light and entertaining read, you can never go past Dick Francis.

Tony Britton's masterly reading saved this book from getting off to a dreadfully slow (dare I say pedestrian?) start. Quite between ourselves and don't tell anyone--if I'd been reading this in print I might have DNF. There's a lot of My Lording and sirring as jockey Kelly Hughes and his trainer are literally called on the carpet, cap in hand before the stewards for throwing a race--only of course as Hughes is a Francis hero, they didn't. Couldn't possibly, copious evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. Unlike his trainer, who comes apart at the seams when they're both warned off for an indefinite period, Hughes is angry enough to want to find out who's responsible, do or die--and it might just possibly be "die."

There are many standard elements of Francis World here--madness, enabling of madness, and for what I think is the first time, kinky sexual tastes. Which appeared so often in the later novels, and so often of the BDSM type, it began to make me wonder about the author (be it Dick or Mary or both), and caused me to stop reading the newer novels in the late 90s, simply because as motifs go, it gets rather tiresome with so much repetition. All this without a single body! Well, if you don't count grievous bodily harm and at least three intended (and a couple of attempted) murders.

A much better listen than my last few trips to Planet Francis, even though the denouement was juusst at taste convenient and incredible, what with Our Hero being already injured a couple of times beforehand. But that's jump jockeys for you--on Planet Francis they heal in a heartbeat and do all, see all, reveal all, and win all.

This is an older Dick Franics novel for 1969 but the story is so well written that is lost nothing over the years. Kelly Hughes is a jockey and Dexter Carrington a trainer are warned off after a race where Kelly rode the favored horse but did not win. They both lose their racing licenses and can't race again. Both swear they are innocent and Kelly begins to investigate who set them up. I love Dick Francis novels and this one did not disappoint!

I listened to this story again on CD and still feel the same. 14 Nov 2016