Dick Francis, an ex-jockey, writes about his passion in this story when his character, Ian Pembroke, a 33-year-old amateur jockey, is asked to help his father figure out who is trying to kill him—and also to become his bodyguard of sorts. Malcolm Pembroke, his extremely wealthy father, gains a new passion of horse racing as he watches Ian during a race. Malcolm—5 times wed with the last wife, Moira, murdered—has 9 estranged children, including Ian, who has just come back into his father’s life after a lengthy absence. While Malcolm had provided well for all of them, that is now not the case with each set of children, ex-spouses and families having new needs, wants and jealousies. Ian is the only one who has escaped all that, preferring to be his own man.

The local police force doesn’t seem to be too concerned about the attempts or even with finding his wife’s killer so it falls to Ian to ferret out the missing piece of the puzzle. With Malcolm’s new found love of horse flesh, Ian gets his father involved with high-stakes breeders who keep him occupied and on the move to various locations and countries buying horses or shares in racing syndicates so that relatives can’t find him while Ian tries to sleuth out who the killer is. The family goes into over-drive thinking that Malcolm will spend all of his millions and leave them bereft.

A great read with a plot that just easily pulls you along and into the plot line. Clearly written and easily read, one learns of the world of horse racing and what that world is about. It shares even more that money does not buy happiness.

I do like Dick Francis. This one had too many characters IMO, and it was only near the end that I felt I had a handle on who they were. The end made it worth the read - an excellent conclusion - but the middle was enough of a slog that I kept going more because I trusted the author than because I was engaged in the story.

Finally got around to completing this book after starting it a while back and putting it down. Enjoyable thriller with an element of horse racing in it of course. Set in places I know (well the towns
not the hotels). The murderers motives all made sense.

My least favorite Dick Francis book so far. Out of character, out of style, and a bit meandering in places. But I stuck with it and the reveal was fun. A light novel. I wouldn't recommend it but I didn't mind reading it.

This book is one from the later part of this author's career and it is not one of his stronger novels. It is short on action. The book is heavily researched and most of the time that research thuds onto the pages, which read like a high school book report. This is a murder mystery rather than a thriller, which is quite a change of pace for this author. It would be fair to call this Dick Francis' attempt at an Agatha Christie novel, although, in typical Dick Francis fashion, this is also the story of an estranged father and son getting back together. I would rank this novel somewhere near the top of the bottom tier of this author's work. There is some good stuff in here, particularly the brief section where we follow the mc as he rides in an amateur steeple chasing event, quite vivid and humorous and unlike anything else the author ever wrote about horseracing. The book is fairly long, and, unusually for this author, there is a long denouement where every loose end is carefully wrapped up and we find out what happens with every character. The book does end with a typically punchy sentence. Every Dick Francis fan should read this once, but only after you've read all the really good ones!

Another fun Dick Francis. Liked that in this one the main character didn’t fall into love - a nice change from the normal formula. At least, not in love with a person … maybe with a career. I think I would have called the book, “on the nod”. Didn’t pick the murderer, but it was clear in hindsight. Learned about bloodstock trading in this one.

What I’ve always loved about Dick Francis is his ability to keep you with him. I wasn’t remotely interested in racing until I read my first novel of his.
It’s been 25 years since I read my last one, but like putting on a favourite pair of shoes, he was still a comfortable fit.
Safe in his hands, I was happy to go in any direction he took me and wasn’t disappointed.

Great mystery

I love all books written by Duck Francis! This book keeps one guessing to the very end. He has great insight into the minds and hearts of people and turns it into fascinating works of fiction. Very entertaining and informative. I highly recommend this book.

Classic whodunnit. A bit heavy on the family tree descriptions.

I listened to the audio book and it was so well done! This is an investigation into murder attempts in a rich family. As always, you have horses and racetracks.

The novels by Dick Francis are always fun to read, easily mixing English horse racing culture with mystery and murder. They are light entertainment for a relaxing summer day. Written by an experienced professional jockey, the novels carry the excitement of the English racing community and love of horses. In the novel Hot Money an amateur jockey, Ian Pembroke, is forced into investigating the murder of his father's fifth wife. Ian's dad is filthy rich and is responsible for a fair amount of pain and suffering in his dysfunctional family. The murder investigation leads, of course, to race tracks and jockeys, to purebred horses and their wealthy owners. It leads to future attacks on the Pembroke family.

I enjoyed the mystery and the interesting dysfunctional individuals involved, all (sadly) believable.

I was introduced to Dick Francis by a good friend who owns every one of Francis's books. Thanks, Jim!

Another intriguing mystery from Dick Francis. Malcolm Pembroke is very rich and lots of children and ex-wives, who all think that he ought to be giving them more money than he already has. After his fifth wife is found murdered and an attempt is made on Malcolm's life, he reaches out to his son Ian, the most level-headed of his children, to live with him as a bodyguard and to also help figure out who is trying to kill him, since the police are stumped. It's assumed that one of the family wants them both dead, but given how bitter most the children and ex-wives are, there's a wide field to choose from. There's an additional attempt on Malcolm's life, then most of the family home is blown up. Ian has his hands full. He keeps moving his father around, gets him interested in horse racing and horse buying (Ian, like many of Francis's protagonists, is an amateur jacket), and travels with him to Paris, California, and Australia to go to the races. Although it's a bit of a challenge remembering who is related to who, the murderer is a surprise, but not unexpected.