n  n
n  Odds Againstn – Dick Francis
Audiobook performed by Geoffrey Howard
3.5***

From the book jacket: Steeplechase jockey Sid Halley was forced to retire when a devastating accident crippled his left hand. Now he spends his days working for a detective agency. Recently separated from his wife, he struggled to adjust not only to his new single life out of racing but also to his handicap. On a routine stakeout, he walks straight into a bullet and his life is changed – again. Halley searched for the man who shot him. The trail leads back to the racetracks, and points to a wicked conspiracy. Halley is the only one who can stop it, and the odds are against him….

My reactions:
I’ve read a couple of Dick Francis mysteries, but this is the first in a series, starring Sid Halley. I really liked how Francis gave us Halley’s background and set up potential continuing relationships for future books in the series.

I would classify this plot less as a traditional mystery, and more of a thriller. Halley (and the reader) know pretty quickly who’s behind the nefarious doings at the track, though there’s a bit of a question as to why and how, and not all the accomplices are known immediately. Halley is tenacious, intelligent, a quick-thinker, and a realist. I like the way he thinks.

The plot moves quickly and there’s enough action and intrigue to keep me interested.

Geoffrey Howard does a fine job performing the audiobook. I like his pacing and the way he voices the characters, particularly Sid and his sidekick, Chico. There are several audio editions with different narrators.

Dick Francis is a delight. The man can spin a mystery/thriller like no other, and featuring horses to boot. Great characters, hijinks, and suspense. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes and also like or do not mind stories about horse racing, you won't be disappointed. Barring some minor 1960s-appropriate sexism (although it's a lot better than most books of that time that I've read), it really holds up even 50+ years later.

The first of the wonderful Sid Halley books ... my favorites of the Dick Francis horse racing mystery thrillers - perhaps because of the damaged (in this case, literally) nature of the hero protagonist?

Another in the Francis horse racing oeuvre. I like that in many stories, Francis's characters seem so real. They have flaws, and not the same ones story to story. In this case, though, Francis was starting off a series with a new character, and I think he provided more than the usual personal weaknesses in this one so he could overcome them in upcoming books. I wasn't as happy with our protagonists as other reviewers seem to be. I also note that Francis seems to write a lot of torture and pain scenes in some of his books, and this one is one of those. Still not my cup of tea. But now that I've bought into the first book in the series, I'll look forward to reading the others as well.

This is the first Sid Halley novel but I read Whip Hand first and reread it a few times before I ever got around to this. It's not quite up there with the sequel but is still one of his best.

Unlike some, we know almost all the villains from the off so this is more cat and mouse than mystery, but I think that makes for a stronger reread.

Ideology is thin on the ground here barring an offhand reference to Harold Wilson's first Labour govt nationalising land purchase. Ha. Chiefly the fact it was published in 1965 provides some fascinating little side references to how our culture has changed. At one point The Beatles are casually mooted to give out awards at a racecourse, which probably still seemed possible prior to Rubber Soul

Steeplechase jockey Sid Halley had a bad fall, slicing open his left hand and arm with a razor-sharp racing horseshoe. That ended his racing career, so Sid went to work for a detective agency that specializes in clients from the racing world. Two years later, Sid was shot in the abdomen during a minor job. He's put on a case investigating a group that has been sabotaging a race course so it loses its value. The crooks want to eventually sell the land for millions to developers who will turn the land into housing lots.

During the investigation Sid meets a woman whose face was severely burned when she was younger. They help each other emotionally deal with deformity and people's reactions to their disfigurements. This adds a thought-provoking theme to a good mystery.

"Odds Against" is the first of a series about Sid Halley, and I'm planning to read the next book, "Whip Hands." I enjoyed the atmosphere at the detective agency, and the steeplechase racing scene.

As always, Francis comes up with a winning combination of mystery, intelligence, horse-racing, and clever detective work. I like all of the heroes that Francis creates, but Sid Halley is one of my favorites. He is an ex-jockey who seriously injured his hand in a race and had to retire at the top of his game. He has drifted since then, showing up at the office of a detective agency but not ever doing anything. His father-in-law (soon to be ex, father to his soon-to-be-ex-wife Jenny) was a naval admiral and is a very clever and discerning upper-crust man. He recognizes the depth of Sid's personality and is very supportive, getting him out of the doldrums by providing him with an intriguing puzzle to solve involving a potential hostile takeover of Seabury Racecourse. The mystery is complicated, but Francis makes it easy to follow and keeps the story moving very quickly and with great excitement. The secondary characters of Chico and Miss Martin and Radnor (and of course, Charles) are full of personality and greatly enhance the story.

Below is my review from 1998. This is my third time reading, this time as a listen and it's even better.
**************
I think this is my favorite character in all of the Dick Francis mysteries. I read this years and years ago after my dad introduced me to the world that Dick Francis wrote about. I think there are three books with Sid as the main character, but this one is the best. He takes what has happened to him and makes it work instead of letting it rule his life.
Excellent mystery set in the horse racing world.
Definitely recommend.

An engaging, easy to read, crime detective novel about how former champion jockey, Syd Halley, becomes a private detective. There is very good plot momentum. Sid’s former father in law, Admiral Charles Roland invites Syd to his house to meet Howard and Doris Kraye. Roland suspects the Krayes are scheming to buy Seabury Racecourse. Roland suspects the Krayes of organising ‘accidents’ at the racecourse to help reduce the racecourse property’s value.

This book was first published in 1965.

It’s been a million years since I first read this. Knowing what happens to Sid ahead of time helped to soften the blow. Still devastating. I’d forgotten that Sid was able to fool even me with his play acting. Looking forward to more Sid Halley!

Dick Francis wrote this book as a stand alone, but Sid’s popularity made him write a few more. Lucky us. He’s a well fleshed out character. No family to speak of, grew up working in stables, newly divorced, and underestimated off the racecourse. On the racecourse he was a brilliant jockey who wasn’t afraid to take risks. Actually enjoyed it. After he loses the use of his right hand, thus curtailing his racing career, Sid gets hired to work at a detective agency. (Guess who’s not afraid to take risks at this job too.) I sometimes think I like Dick Francis’s heroes because they’re everyday people like me. Maybe if the situation arose, and I hope it doesn’t, I could step up and coolly handle it. You never know.

Always good!

I'm so glad I saw the movie of this book first. It was part of a four-episode series on British television called The Racing Game. The first episode was an adaptation of this book; the remainder were based on the characters and written by screenwriters in consultation with Mr. Francis. I enjoyed them, especially the first, and liked the casting, so I felt I'd like to read the book to see how it differed (having already read the second in the series, Edgar-winner Whip Hand.

Had I read the book first, I would have been disappointed in the film, because the book is much better. In it, Sid Halley has been "working" in a large detective agency for two years, ever since his hand was smashed in a steeplechase accident, ending his career as a jockey. He is seldom given any assignments and assumes that the job is a bit of charity -- not because he needs the money but just to give him a place to go each day. Then, his soon-to-be-ex-father-in-law inveigles him into helping foil an extremely hostile takeover of a small racecourse, and in the process, Sid discovers that he really does want to be a detective and is good at it. All this character growth is brought out much more fully in the book than in the film. Also, some minor plot changes in the film, while perhaps cinematically apt, seemed somewhat unrealistic to me, and the original incidents in the book are both more believable and just as suspenseful. If you like to see filmed mysteries, do watch the videos first and then read the book. But do read the book by all means.