Book Review: Comeback by Dick Francis

Several valuable racehorses have unexplained deaths and Foreign Office diplomat Peter Darwin uncovers part of the plot involving a veterinary surgeon.

Darwin is on holiday in Miami (one of Dick Francis's haunts) where he becomes caught up in a scuffle involving two acquaintances who are beaten and robbed. He goes with his new friends back to Gloucestershire in England and his old childhood home town. This is where he stumbles upon the plot of the vet.

The novel focuses on Darwin as he unravels the mystery for us before our readers eyes as we are ridden across the pages again with Dick Francis firmly in the saddle.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Longshot by Dick Francis

John Kendall, the hero in this 1990 novel did something that I wish I had the nerve to do, he quit his day job to write a novel. However, he then volunteers to write the biography of a National Hunt trainer called Tremayne Vickers.

We are back in the cosy, horse world of Dick Francis once again. The hero is also a survival expert and he needs to be in this situation. Kendall is taken into the family of Vickers and seems to have landed on his feet. However two recent deaths in the family and you know that peace is not going to reign for too long!

One of the murder victims is Angela Brickell, a missing stable girl. Her body is found, and the question becomes, who killed her? It could be Nolan, an amateur jockey who was recently convicted of accidental manslaughter; it could be Harry, a friend who may have had an affair with the young girl. The police inspector on the case tries to use Kendall to get to the truth.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Straight by Dick Francis

Straight was published in 1989 and this novel by Dick Francis finds Derek Franklin recovering from a riding accident when his brother Greville dies unexpetedly. Derek is the sole heir and soon discovers that his brother has hidden some diamonds. He also has to learn about precious stones generally.

As his brother was nineteen years older than him, Derek also discovers things about his brother's life too. This is also a voyage of discovery for him too. Greville loved gadgets and puzzles so this novel is a good mystery that Dick Francis plays very well.

He also inherits horses from his brother but he is not allowed to own a racehorse as a jockey. Another problem that his brother has left him with.

A good novel with some great twists and turns.

9/10 from me.

Book Review: The Edge by Dick Francis

Everyone is off for a good time on a trip, but one of their number is not all that he seems. A sociopaht, blackmailer and all round criminal Julius Filmer is along for the ride too. Luckily, also on the trip is Tor Kelsey who is an undercover security agent for the Jockey Club as the train speeds across Canada. Love Dick Francis books, trains and Canada so that is three winning ingredients for me in this novel published in 1988.

Filmer has been tried before for the murder of a groom, but a bit of manipulation and strong arm tactics and he was found not guilty. The train trip is supposed to promote Canadian racing and the train is full of innocent horse owners, racegoers, crew etc. However they will soon have their innocent lives changed dramatically in this novel.

Tor Kelsey takes on the part of an actor in a staged mystery, as he pretends to be a dining car waiter. A bit of romance is in there too.

For the ingedients that I like this is a 9/10 book for me.

Book Review: Hot Money by Dick Francis

A very little known fact is that I also wrote a novel and I called it Hot Money. The difference between me and Dick Francis is that he completed his, submitted it to a publisher and got it out there. Mine remains 3/4 finished (3 years later) with a few publisher's rejection slips. Take action!

This 1987 outing for Dick Francis sees a wealthy gold trader with five ex-wives and nine children all at it hammer and tongs. However when one violent death visits the worst of the ex-spouses, the trader Malcolm Pembroke calls in his son Ian, a jockey, to protect him. We are back into the horse racing world again with Dick Francis. Something his avid readers never tire of.

Ian and Malcolm become reconciled but it is clear that a family member is intent on their own agenda and the jockey becomes bodyguard becomes detective. The novel is really good and I enjoyed reading it. The hot money is money that is used to gain inside knowledge. The hot money is used to seek the truth.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Bolt by Dick Francis

Kit Fielding (a character we have met before in the world of Dick Francis) is not having a good period in his life. His girlfriend is in the process of leaving him, an international arms dealer is threatening him, and someone is trying to spike his career as a jockey too.

Kit rides for a Princess and he sees her after a race speaking with a very rude man. The Princess invites Kit to come to her house which she shares with her husband and Kit's girlfriend. The rude man is discovered to be the business partner of the Princesse's husband. The business partner wants her husband to sign up to using a plastic developed in the use of firearms. He refuses and we are off and running again in this 1986 Dick Francis thriller.

Two of the Princess's horses are shot (using a bolt used by vets), and one of these horses was a top tip for the Grand National. Kit's girlfriend is followed and the business partner is the man in the frame, abetted by other characters in the novel. The failure of the Princess's husband to sign up has serious violent repercussions.

Roland, the Princess's husband nearly signs up and Kit persuades him not to. However, the violence and the danger and the intrigue continues.

A good novel and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Break In by Dick Francis

Another great read from the Dick Francis stable, this one published in 1985. His books don't seem to date at all, and this one features one of his great heroes, steepchase jockey Kit Fielding. In this novel it is family troubles when a grudge between his family and his sister-in-laws family turns nasty.

As ever, we gallop along with Dick as he rides us into his rather cosy world of murder, mystery with a little romance thrown in too. We learn with Kit what has happened and the facts of the case become clearer as Dick Francis unfolds the mystery before our eyes.

Another good read from the master.

8/10 for me.

Book Review; Proof by Dick Francis

In this 1984 outing from Dick Francis we peer over the shoulder of the hero, Tony Beach who is a wine merchant with his own small store. However, his private life is overshadowed by the death of his wife and their unborn child. He is in the routine task of catering for one of his horse trainer clients (always the Dick Francis trait to be in the horsey world, I love being there too).

Hit men kill an international figure at the party and Tony gets sucked into the thick of things investigating stolen and fake drinks.

Tony also has a brave father and grandfather before him both of whom he has previously struggled to live up to. However in this book Tony discovers inner strengths that he did not realise that he had. As ever good triumphs over evil and we are rooting for Tony all the way as well as learning something about the drinks industry too.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: The Danger by Dick Francis

Andrew Douglas's business is to find kidnap victims and return them to their loved ones. However, three horse racing related kidnappings in  a row is too much for him. Almost. The action races from England to Washington DC to Italy. He flirts with danger and his name is also on the wanted list as the next kidnap victim.

One of the kidnap victims is a pretty Italian jockey and she becomes the lover interest in this novel. However, before he can win the lady, Andrew has to outwit the kidnapper to put wrongs to rights.

Once again, Dick Francis takes us on a ride into the horse racing world, and once again he delivers the high quality that we have come to expect from his novels.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Banker by Dick Francis

A young investment banker called Tim Ekaterin becomes involved in the world of thoroughbred racing and his world turns upside down. He arranges a multi-million loan for a client to buy a champion racehorse only to discover that the animal is not all that it seems. He looks for answers as to how this could have happened and he is then into a world of danger, resulting in violence and murder.

He tries to save the banks money and learns more and more about racehorse breeding. The more he gets to know the deeper in he gets. Drugs for genetically altering the racehorse are to the fore, and a champion racehorse with a clean pedigree starts to father foals that are deformed.

A series of gruesome murders around the stud farm include the owner’s daughter with a strange clue in her pocket.

The novel has suspense, thrills, scary bits and some romance. The ending of the book is inconclusive in that you can make up your own mind about what happens next.

Great stuff and 8/10 for me.

Book Review: Twice Shy by Dick Francis

This novel emerged from the Dick Francis stable in 1981, another in a long line of horse racing based novels. In this novel a computerised betting system (in 1981??) falls into the hands of Jonathan Derry, but unless he gets it back to the rightful owners his life is in danger. Derry is a school teacher who is given cassette tapes (1981 remember) of the computer code by a friend who is subsequently killed. Then Derry is visited at his home by a couple of thugs. And we are off and running again on another Dick Francis ride.

The first half of the book concerns Jonathan's trials and tribulations with the bad guys while the second half is about William, Jonathan's younger brohter, who takes up the story some years later when the thugs have been released from prison, still on the trail of the tapes.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Reflex by Dick Francis

The death of a racetrack photographer is considered an accident by many but not by veteran jockey Philip Nore, who has a shared interest in photography with the victim. He starts to investigate the circumstances of the death and soon stumbles across a sinister plot.

Using his own resources rather than going to the police, Nore uses his photographic skills to avoid the bad guys and to help bring them to justice.

Needless to say with Dick Francis, this novel, published in 1980, is superbly written and you will not be able to put it down  until you have finished reading it. I recall that this particular book was read in one day, so intrigued with it was I.

A 9/10 ride for me.

Book Review: Whip Hand by Dick Francis

This is the continuing story of Sid Halley an ex-jockey who is now a private eye. He only has one hand and investigates (you've guessed it!) horse racing related cases. We are off and running in the magical world of Dick Francis once again!

A conman has coerced Halley's wife into a scheme that could see her end up in prison unless the true perpitrator isn't found. Step in Sid Halley. The novel is told in the first person so we get to understand the way Sid thinks that is good.

As ever there are thrills and spills as the plot unfolds with Sid getting into some tight situations before unravelling the mystery.

This novel I understand won a Edgar Best Novel Award and it fully deserves it.

For what it is worth, I give this 9/10!!!

Book Review: Trial Run by Dick Francis

This time we are on a trip to Russia with Dick Francis and the hero of this story, Randall Drew who is a vetran horseman. This is the time of the Olympic Games in 1980 and he is investigating a rumour about the fate of one of the British horse team.

This book was written ten years (published in 1978) before the fall of the Berlin Wall fell, with the memory of the Munich Olympics still fresh and Russia still in the grips of communism. In this novel his hero is upper class and this counterbalances with the classless society of Russia at the time.

This novel is interesting for this aspect of a time gone by but as ever it is entertaining and a cracking ride of a read from Dick Francis.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Risk by Dick Francis

This 1977 published novel sees Dick Francis in his prime. In this one Roland Britten, a championship steeplechase jockey wakes up after winning the Gold Cup to find that he is being held captive on yacht in the Mediterranean.

He racks his brains to try and work out who would do this to him and he manages to escape his captors onto the island of Minorca where a woman helps him evade his captors. He returns to England and begins to investigate some imbezzlers his testimony has sent to prison. He is only an amateur jockey so he also returns to work on some puzzling discrepancies in the accounts of some of his clients.

He is captured again and released, the place of his release giving him a few clues about who his captors are. The mystery continues to unfold, there is a love interest and you continue to turn the pages.

Another fine ride with Dick Francis.

9/10 for me.

Book Review: In the Frame by Dick Francis

Another in the yearly offerings of Dick Francis, and what offerings they were, a very entertaining and consistent read, usually with the research skills of his wife Mary too.

This novel features Charles Todd who is an artist who paints horses. His life is changed after his sister in law is murdered and his brother becomes the main suspect. This is followed by the murder of his cousin's wife and the burgulary of their house. The police are suspicious of the crime as the theft appears to be an arranged one.

At a racetrack Todd meets a client who introduces him to a woman who has also experienced a recent burgulary. He discovers that the woman and his cousin recently returned from Australia and they both bought a painting while there. Todd of course travels to Australia to look for clues.

The usual high standard cosy Dick Francis read.

8/10 for me.

Book Review: High Stakes by Dick Francis

Steven Scott is learning his way in the horseracing world. One of his hurdlers has won several races under the guidance of his trainer. However this winning streak comes to an end when he discovers that his trainer has been cheating on him and is in collusion with a bookmaker. The scheme in a nutshell is to let Steven's horses win on medium and small bets but when Steven bets big the horses lose and the bookmaker and trainer keep the cash.

Steven has to try and catch the trainer and the bookmaker in the act and get all the ducks in a row. All of this against the backdrop of getting a bad reputation over dismissing his wonderful trainer over a mere mistake in billing.

The usual Dick Francis ingredients in the horse racing world. You will be taken by the hand as usual and led through the wonderful world that the author lays out for you. Enjoy!

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Knock Down by Dick Francis

An ex-jockey called Jonah Dereham agrees to bid, for a generous commission, for a young steeplechaser on behalf of a wealthy American woman. However soon after the auction two thugs demand that he hand over the ownership to them.

Dereham who is now a bloodstock agent after his jockey days becomes the subject of intense pressure. His barn is burnt down, he is stabbed by a pitch fork and his brother is killed.

The stakes are high and the price that Jonah has paid has been high too. We turn the pages as quickly as possible to try and work out why the bad guys have got it in so badly for him.

You will enjoy the horse ride from Dick Francis as usual!

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Smokescreen by Dick Francis

Edward Lincoln is an actor who is thrust into the limelight as a detective when he agrees to travel to South Africa to investigate why someone is tampering with racehorses. Lincoln is targeted as soon as he gets off of the plane. A couple of near accidents give way to less subtle attempts on this life.

He has clearly stumbled upon something that he shouldn't have and he soon becomes embroiled in an adventure movie with Lincoln playing the hero. People obviously want him to stop his investigations but you know he will battle on to the end of the mystery.

Set in South Africa it is a nice change of scene but with the old familiar horse racing world that we know and love Dick Francis for.

Happy New Year 2012 too!!!!

8/10 for me.

Book Review: Bonecrack by Dick Francis

A great read by Dick Francis, as ever set in the horse world that I have begun to love through these books. This novel was published in 1971.

Neil Griffon is entrusted to take care of his father's stables while he is injured and laid up in bed. However he is not very experienced and ends up being kidnapped by the bad guys. Subsequent to this, Neil is forced to hire a jockey to ride a potential Derby winning horse. The jockey turns out to be the son of the kidnapper.

How does Neil turn the situation around to ensure that the good guys win? You will lap up this book to find out. It is not one that you will want to put down!

9/10 for me.