4/5 stars. I started off really enjoying it. I’ve read a lot of mystery, and this felt different. It was going in several surprising directions, and the characterisation was done very well. In particular, I liked the main character’s relationships with his father in law and his lady friend. Once the “police work” started, I felt things took a bit of a turn for the worse, the prodding and poking around the racecourse not feeling very interesting to me. Throughout, the writing was good and there was a wry humour to it all that I enjoyed. Francis did a good job tying up all the loose ends, even if he did wait until literally the final sentence to do so! I’ll read more of this series.

This title was originally published in 1965 entitled "Odds Against" - it is the first of four stories featuring jockey turned detective Sid Halley....

Even thought this is my first review of this book, it is about my third reading of it, by which you may deduce that I love it! Dick Francis was a kind of Renaissance man, much like the hero of this book, where one character says of the protagonist, Sid Halley, "that he would rise to the top of whatever profession he undertook." The same could certainly be said of Dick Francis: Championship Jockey, renowned journalist, and multi-million best selling author on all continents! When you read any one of his novels, although they are always linked to the horse-racing world in some aspect, you are always treated to a look at other worlds and disciplines. In this case, the properties of quartz are showcased, along with stock-market trading...now there's a combination you don't often come across! And all his books are like that! They are a mini-education in themselves and I think that is one of the secrets of his success as an author: he never condescends to the reader, but makes him a partner in learning and expanding his knowledge by the most enticing of all ways, while simultaneously enjoying a heart-pounding mystery-adventure!
About the book: in it as previously mentioned, you will meet Sid Halley, ex-jockey-cum-investigator, who became Francis's only recurring character. He is smart, funny, thoughtful, and self-effacing to the point that people regularly underestimate him to their cost. On the surface, this is an excellent story dealing with the future of a modest race track in southern England and the efforts to convert it into property development. And it can be read and thoroughly enjoyed on that level. But what I have learned from reading it three times, is that there are other threads leading to much deeper questions, such as suicide, maso-sadism, overcoming public repugnance to disfigurement, changing careers, interpersonal relationships, artificial limbs, manipulation of local government, and corruption of people in trusted positions. Etc! Yes, the list is almost endless in this standard-seeming mystery novel, which is anything but standard! You never have to apologize for liking Dick Francis, he is the thinking person's Agatha Christie.

As usual I liked the main character very much. Sid Halley was a good person as well as being intelligent. His handicap was his hand that he had ruined in a fall from a horse. He was a famous jockey before then, but he had a hard time "coming down from the mountain." Finally, his ex-father-in-law spurred him on to remake himself. During this time he helped another lady, Zanna Martin, deal with her disability. He pulled her out of her "fink" and helped her gain her self-confidence. He was just a "nice guy." I have already ordered Sid Halley #2.