First in the series starring Sid Halley, an ex-steeplechaser turned detective. He is recovering from a gun shot wound to the abdomen when he is invited to visit his future ex-father-in-law at his estate. Other guests are also invited. He is put up to ridicule by the guests but then his father-in-law suggests one of the guests may need investigating. The investigation leads to a race track that may be on its last leg. The book was interesting and absorbing but a description of torture of one of the characters was disturbing.

ODDS AGAINST - Ex
Francis, Dick - 4th book / 1st Sid Halley

Sid Halley, an injured jockey, becomes a private eye and carries out some work for his father-in-law, who believes a man is trying to financially ruin Seabury racecourse, so that it can be sold to property developers.

The first Sid Halley book with some very nasty villains and brutal scenes but great action and a memorable story. Loved it!

There is something quite comforting in reading Dick Francis novels. Good plots, characterizations and around horse racing. My experience around horses is negligible and having rode only a few times have mostly ended badly. Thrown twice and dragged behind happily on soft wet muddy ground.

Sid Halley is introduced in this story when after recovering from a fall which wrecked his hand is now a detective. However, after his father in law sets him up suddenly becomes more serious about detecting. An unscrupulous, brutal and evil property developer is using underhand means to take over Seabury racecourse and develop the land into bungalows.

Sid with the aid of the detective agency must find out who is behind all the accidents and ill fortune befalling the racecourse. This after he has been shot in the stomach and still recovering. A solid story with action and a satisfying ending. The baddie is the one his father in law introduced him to at the beginning. The question is who is his inside man.

An interesting read; I learned more about boilers than I thought possible!

I really liked this one.

Always an interest-keeping plot with this author, usually clean. This tale is no exception to either and add to it an exceptional narration.

I have read a lot of Dick Francis books. This is one of the earlier ones and it is a great read. No wonder he continued to write for years and became a beloved author. He kept up his quality while writing may books, and we enjoy him for it.

J. Robert Ewbank anthor "John Wesly, Natural Man, and the Isms" "Wesley's Wars" and "To Whom It May Concern"

Sid Halley book one is a Fast Paced Ride All The Way to the Wire!

I was never particularly keen on my job before the day I got shot and nearly lost it, along with my life. But the .38 slug of lead that made a pepper shaker out of my intestines left me with fire in my belly in more ways than one. Otherwise I should never have met Zanna Martin, and would still be held fast in the spider threads of departed joys, of no use to anyone, least of all myself.
It was the first step to liberation, that bullet, though I wouldn’t have said so at the time. I stopped it because I was careless. Careless because bored.

There were two policemen on my left, one in uniform, one not. They were both sweating, because the room was hot. The doctor stood on the right, fiddling with a tube which ran from a bottle into my elbow. Various other tubes sprouted disgustingly from my abdomen, partly covered by a light sheet. Drip and drainage, I thought sardonically. How absolutely charming.
Radnor was watching me from the foot of the bed, taking no part in the argument still in progress between medicine and the law. I wouldn’t have thought I rated the boss himself attendant at the bedside, but then I suppose it wasn’t every day that one of his employees got himself into such a spectacular mess.
He said, “He’s conscious again, and his eyes aren’t so hazy. We might get some sense but of him this time.” He looked at his watch.
The doctor bent over me, felt my pulse, and nodded. “Five minutes, then. Not a second more.”

********
Odds Against by Dick Francis is the first book in the Sid Halley series and it starts with a bang and runs flat out all the way to the wire!
Sid is a vibrant character with a life he wishes he didn't have. That is until the day he gets shot.... From that moment on, his life will never be the same again. He just doesn't know it yet. Be careful what you wish for!

Dick Francis is in his element with a creative horse racing thriller starring multiple, exceedingly dangerous villains pitted against a retired jockey who is completely unaware of the heart pounding, terrifying events that will soon play out.

I own all of Dick Francis's books and have read them all but it's been a long time so I am re-reading them as he is my all time favorite author. I thought I'd give the audiobook a try this time around.
As I said, the story is terrific but I can't say the same for the narration. Narrator *Geoffrey Howard's 3★ performance lacked a lot, to say the least! There was very little emotion and the characters were virtually indistinguishable from one another. There would have been no way to discern who was speaking if he hadn't been reading from the script. I stuck it out as I was enjoying the story. Fortunately, this is an Audible audiobook and I was able to return the title, as is their policy, for a full refund. All in all, not much lost but I recommend reading the book over this audiobook format.

Bring on Sid Halley book two, Whip Hand!

*I rate narrators separately so my star rating has no reflection on the author's book.
**I have purchased books four and five of the Sid Halley series on Audible as Martin Jarvis is the narrator and his performances are outstanding!

#1 of 5 in the Sid Halley series — had previously read #2 and #3 in the series about an ex-champion jockey, who in this book gets deep into the investigation business, with a case involving stock manipulators who want to sell a racecourse. Any of Dick Francis’s book are great stand-alones, and are filled with suspense and excitement and deal with a variety of mysteries, all having something to do with horses. Being a horse-racing fan is not necessary to enjoy these mysteries. This makes the 26th book I’ve read by Francis, but the first since 2010. Still some left!

A free listen from audible. The first book in a detective series, we are introduced to Sid Halley, a former steeplechase jockey who had to end his racing career when his hand was severely damaged from a fall off a horse. He now works for a detective agency but isn't given much to do so he just coasts along until he is shot on what was supposed to be an easy, safe stakeout. In his recovery, he spends time at his father-in-law's country estate. Sid's wife has left him but he is still close with her father. He wants Sid to investigate the Crays who seem to be buying up stock shares in Seabury Race Course. The plan seems to be what has happened to other race courses, they get bought up and sold to housing developers. Sid takes photos of the shares and other documents that Cray has hidden in a box but the problem is that while it proves he is right nothing is illegal about buying shares. As Sid investigates, he learns that Seabury has had an amazing bit of bad luck lately with racing needing to be cancelled for a variety of reasons, including an overturned tanker leaking oil on the track and a barn fire that kills some horses. The more he looks into it, the more he is convinced that Cray is sabotaging the race course in the hopes that he can instigate a take over bid at a more reasonable price. There are various hijinks where Cray blows up Sid's office and flat in the hopes of destroying evidence and a chase scene where Cray is trying to trap Sid at the race course while a sabotaged boiler blows up. There is a whole chapter about boilers, how they work and how Sid fixed it that I found to be way too much detail. But for the most part I enjoyed this one and will pick up a few other Francis novels to try.

I've come to think of Dick Francis as a safe, predictable read. Each story, though materially different in circumstance, is crafted around some aspect of horse racing with each unique angle of each story being richly researched and presented as the story unfolds. In this story, however, I found more grit than expected. (Read that as a positive.) The climax scene was well presented with dynamic pacing and more protagonist angst than I've come to expect in a Dick Francis novel. Not to say that his other protagonists are lite weights, rather that he really beats the hell out of this one. Also, there are psychological elements in play as the hero moves through his arc. All in all, a great read. This is book one in a four book series. Needless to say, I'm in it for the duration.

The first Sid Halley mystery

Jump jockey Sid Halley loses a wife, loses a hand in a racing accident, loses a championship racing career, gains a new career as a private investigator in which he foils a particularly despicable villain and saves a race course. I left out the "minor" things. As usual in a Dick Francis novel, Mr. Halley suffers considerable physical abuse at the hands of the villains but does not fall into their hands through gross carelessness and stupidity as is sometimes the case in a Dick Francis novel. Well done.