ENQUIRY - Ex
Francis, Dick - 8th book

Kelly Hughes is a jockey, labelled a cheat by a Steward's enquiry. To clear his name he investigates all those who gave evidence, including the Chief Steward who was being blackmailed. Kelly, helped by Roberta, his employer's daughter, finds out who the real villain is and saves the stables.

Loved this one. Francis has a way of making you feel the emotions of the characters. I also learned about carbon monoxide poisoning from this book.

I listened to the play version on Audible. This was enjoyable like all other Dick Francis books. The Hero Kelly Hughes is clever and resourceful. When he is framed for cheating and loses his jockey license (and not to set foot near a horse stable), he vows to find out the truth and get back his license.
Recommended for a quick read and to those who love everything about horse racing.

Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. By far, I believe this is my favorite Dick Francis book to date. I believe this will be one I come back and reread. A true comeback tale of how persistence, overcomes resistance great work!

Fabulous.

Eh, ok. I was expecting a little more story with the horses, but it was all about the jockey and who framed him to get his license suspended. Plus, I figured it out pretty quickly so there wasn't much suspense.

Enquiry would not be my choice as a top Francis book, but it has a few things going for it. For one, this is focused on the horse racing industry. Many of Francis’ books have had horse racing as a side topic, mixing it with details on other topics like glass blowing or acting. This is all about the industry. This also had some action and some fast resolutions after what I thought was an overlong setup. The setup involved a quasi legal “courtroom proceeding” that was described by a confused victim throughout the first fifth of the book. That was not fun to go through, but once you finished that part, the story took off. You figure out who are the good guys and the bad guys pretty quickly here, so the fun is seeing how the good guys catch the bad ones.

I listened on audio and as usual for a Francis book I enjoyed the narration.

Meh

Mildly entertaining but a fairly ridiculous plot, and an even more ridiculous scheme by the ‘baddie’. Forgettable, but the central character seemed like a prototype Sid Halley, who was more interesting by far.

I thought he did a brilliant job of decsribing the Enquiry itself, where everyone had found the hero guilty before it began. It reminded me of school - that nightmare feeling that nothing you can say will get you out of trouble because they are all determined to hang you and don't care about the truth.

He's a great thriller writer.

'I rode him at Reading exactly as I did at Oxford without using the whip.'
'That is beside the point, Hughes, because Squelch may not of needed the whip at Reading, but at Oxford he did.'
'Sir, it is the point,' I protested. 'I rode Squelch at Oxford in exactly the same manner as when he won at Reading,only at Oxford he tired.'
Lord Gowery absolutely ignored this.

13/10/16 reread. It felt very dated, but I still enjoyed it.

Finalist 1969 Gold Dagger Award.

Racing related thrillers - After being charged at a secret enquiry with throwing a race for profit, jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield have been barred from racing - a devastating event for both of them. It was a vicious frame-up, and worse, they have nowhere to turn to clear their names. Still, Hughes refuses to take the phony verdict lying down...even though his personal enquiry might have him lying down permanently.

A typical Dick Francis book, an unjust wrong upon our hero, some intrigue, some mayhem, with a little romance tossed in, and finally, a favorable resolution. Enjoyable, though the ending was just a bit too pat.

It's nice to be among a cool bunch of people that all like Dick Francis and now Felix as much as I do. I've been a fan now for about 35-40 years, and when I want a fairly quick pick-me-up, this is a really good place to go. My library had two of his books when I went last, and I lapped them up like a dog. Nice to get a Francis fix when I want one.

When Kelly Hughes rides the favourite into second place, he gets penalized for his trouble. Not only has he lost the race, but also his licence, as the Jockey Club suspends him - believing he threw the race. Only he knows that the problem lay with the horse's performance, not his own. Suspecting he was framed, Kelly sets about finding out how it was done, and then who might have done it. But the closer he gets to the perpetrators, the more danger he finds himself in. Now there's more than his reputation and career at stake. There's also his life . . .there are many twists and turns throughout the book, and some of the characters who are good and bad. The resolution of the story is good. This isn't his best nor his worst. But a book you can read in an afternoon. Enjoy.

Kelly Hughes and his trainer are marked off racing for deliberately losing a race. The official enquiry confirms the allegation. Hughes knows they are innocent and tries to prove their innocence. Along the way he gets bruised and battered and nearly killed. Another determined Dick Francis protagonist and a fine read.