A good mystery. There are outdated words and ideas, reader beware.

Yes, this book was written 30 years ago, but reading it again now, it hasn’t dated at all. I found it just as exciting as it was back then. I did find it hard to read about the deliberate injuries caused to racehorses by their trainers, (not in full detail, thankfully) but most of the horses recovered. The research that must have gone into the veterinary treatment of these poor horses was amazing. I suppose it’s not a new concept - trainers falsifying the sire of an as yet unborn foal, to make money, but it was still one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’ve always enjoyed Dick Francis books, made better by his knowledge of racing and his experience as a jockey. He just adds a murder here and there - I just love the books. Luckily for me, Felix Francis has continued writing horse racing based books and they’re as good as his fathers were.

Fun read, learned about horses and some of their issues. Very light and enjoyable.

I always enjoy reading a good Dick Francis novel. They are pretty clean, the language isn't too bad, and not a lot of sex.... Sometimes I even reread the books, because it's like being with a friend you haven't seen in several years. I really enjoy the characters he uses, and also enjoy the series he writes about too. I'm not a gambler, but I really enjoy watching them live, as well as on screen. There is a certain excitement that I don't find in many other places.

I thought this was a good book even though it took me a bit to get used to the different British lingo. I guess I haven't watched enough BBC TV. Peter Darwin works for the Civil Service and is given a new assignment in Gloucestershire, England where he lived as a child. His mother worked as a secretary at the horse races then so he grew up around them and had wanted to race himself one day. He is interested in seeing his old neighborhood again. He befriends a man named Ken there that is a local Vet and surgeon to the racehorses. He confides in Peter that he is worried about his reputation because recently several horses have died unexpectedly. As Peter begins to learn more about this mystery he is also recognizing names and places from when he was a child. Things begin to get more serious when part of the Vet clinic burns and a body is found inside. More horses die mysteriously and Peter has to figure something out fast before there is nothing left of Ken's career.

Trust Francis to not only give you a look inside the world of large animal (horse, primarily) veterinarian practice but also a glimpse of diplomacy.
:) This was clearly one of his later books -- not only are there "portable" telephones, but also some casual sex. Woohoo, so modern! :)
I loved this. The big reveal came 95% of the way through but never a slack moment.

Another good novel - someone killing horses at a vets office.

This was another classic Dick Francis mystery, and it had plenty of intrigue and excitement. In this one, the main character, Peter Darwin, is a diplomat on leave, visiting the town he grew up in. He ends up getting sucked into the problems at the veterinary clinic where racehorses have been dying mysteriously.

I really enjoyed the mystery plot, and it got me in the end - I hadn't figured out who was behind it all. The characters were decent, although there were a few "old boys" things I didn't really like. They weren't enough to turn me away from the story, though. Overall, it was a solid Francis mystery.

Not loads to say about this one. It's a good enough read but not the full 5 stars. Mainly it suffers from a slightly stilted opening leading into mystery that just seems too fractured and impossible to really believe in. But on the other hand we don't get bogged down by much in the way of poorly aged political or social commentary. Worth a read but the wrap-up just isn't quite satisfying enough.

Good G-Rated mystery. Extra points for Dick Francis for his research on veterinary toxicology. A few shocking scenes keep up the tension level.

The sleuth is an amateur, a diplomatic service employee who just happens to be around when all these horses are dying in and after surgery.

“Comeback” is another enjoyable horse-related mystery by Dick Francis. The comeback in the title refers to our hero, Peter Darwin, returning to his home town after years in the foreign service. He immediately gets involved in a mystery concerning horses dying of various causes, often after treatment by a vet about Peter’s age. Peter becomes his friend in the book, and that was probably the most endearing part of the story. You don’t seem to see men becoming friends often in these short mystery books, and this seemed quite believable. Francis’ books always focus on some other business besides the racing that he features, and here we dive into the life and personality required to be a foreign service officer as well as the life of a veterinarian. The vet’s days are detailed, including descriptions of offices, partnership structures, and surgeries that were strangely enthralling – this is the kind of stuff Francis excels at. The racing life makes a rather limited appearance here, more the background than the focus. I enjoyed this one quite a lot, but I thought that the hero of the story had a major lapse at the end that wasn’t character-like but did cause the story to end abruptly, and not quite logically to my thinking. The characters didn’t know how to solve the mystery, and perhaps Francis didn’t know how to solve it either.

I vividly remember the murder scene in this book which I read in paperback form probably 15-20 years ago. Was stoked it find it on my library audiobook app. Really enjoyed it and will continue to find more Dick Francis novels to inhale.