Forgotten Book: COMEBACK, Dick Francis

My plan this year for my contributions to Friday's Forgotten Books hosted by Pattinase is to feature books I read 20 years ago - in 1993- from the records I have in my "little green book", which I started in 1975.
In 1993 I read 111 books and was pretty well addicted to crime fiction by then.

I  was already a fan of Dick Francis by then. My choice this week is COMEBACK which was published in 1991.

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A globe-hopping diplomat comes face to face with a case of fatal corruption, in Dick Francis's suspenseful new mystery-his thirtieth thoroughbred thriller.

Fresh from a posting in Tokyo, young British First Secretary Peter Darwin decides to holiday in England before taking up his next assignment for the Foreign Office. During a brief stopover in Miami, Peter is accidentally caught in a scuffle that leaves two acquaintances beaten and robbed. Peter stands by his new friends until they are safely delivered to their next destination: Gloucestershire, England, his childhood home and scene of long-buried memories. There he walks unexpectedly into a veterinary surgeon's racehorse-related nightmare. As his involvement with the doctor's plight grows, as as more racehorses meet an untimely end, Peter realizes that events from his own past are the keys to saving some decent people- and the things they love-from destruction.

Tact, intuition, wiliness: such are the weapons of diplomacy. Now Peter Darwin must wield them not for political reasons, but rather to unravel the enigma of the cruel fate befalling the local bloodstock. The trick is to stay alive himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick Francis (1920-2010) was widely acclaimed as one of the world's finest thriller writers. His awards include the Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre, and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University of Boston. In 1996 Dick Francis was made a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement and in 2000 he received a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

From 2007 he published several titles with his younger son Felix who now continues the tradition of writing novels connected with the horse racing industry.

Review: TO THE HILT, Dick Francis - Audio

• UNABRIDGED Tony Britton
• Length:10 hrs and 20 mins
• Release Date:11-22-05 by AudioGO Ltd.
  Published in 1996
• Source: I bought it from Audible

 Publisher's blurb:
Alexander Kinloch, artist, has worked out a good pattern for his life. His home is a small bothy on a remote mountain in Scotland; he paints on commission, from which he derives both pleasure and a decent income; he lives alone and likes it.
One day, however, Alexander's peace is violently shattered when he returns home to find a group of strangers waiting for him. After a scuffle, he is left for dead with only the wind and the words "Where is it?" ringing in his ears. And the days that follow contain more danger than he could ever have imagined. 

My take:

TO THE HILT is one of Dick Francis' many stand alone novels. I think I have read most of them over the years but don't remember this one.

Francis (1920 - 2010) was a master story teller and there always seems to be something to keep the reader/listener interested in TO THE HILT. The story feels credible and there are a number of well drawn characters. In particular I liked the main character Alexander Kinloch, his uncle the Laird known as "himself", and the private detective Al employs, who is a dab hand at changing his persona.

Alexander Kinloch has always been good at hiding things. He has already hidden the golden hilt, but even he has to wonder when his step father asks him to hide a horse.  

In addition in the audio version, Tony Britton does an excellent job of a variety of voices.
A most enjoyable novel.

My rating: 4.5

Review: DEAD HEAT, Dick and Felix Francis

Pan Macmillan 2008, ISBN 978-0-330-45482-7, 409 pages

Mass poisoning is every chef's nightmare and a black tie gala dinner at Newmarket on the eve of the 2,000 Guineas a most unlikely occasion. And follow that up with the explosion of a bomb at the races on the day itself.

Max Moreton is the Michelin chef whose reputation is in tatters after the dinner, his Newmarket restaurant is closed, and then many of the clientele for whom he is catering, and one of his staff, are killed in the bomb explosion. Max is determined to find out how the food poisoning occurred, certain that it wasn't his food that caused it. And when things begin to happen as he asks questions, he begins to wonder whether the two events are connected.

DEAD HEAT is good reading, a page turner with a credible chain of events, and background details that tell you it is written by authors who know their stuff: this time long acknowledged master Dick Francis together with his son Felix. Felix's role as researcher and in writing this and other recent novels is acknowledged in the blurb.

I've been reading Dick Francis for decades. He has written forty-one international bestsellers and is widely acclaimed as one of the world's finest thriller writers. His awards include the Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the crime genre, and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University of Boston. In 1996 Dick Francis was made a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement and in 2000 he received a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list. For a complete list of books see the list at Fantastic Fiction. My review: SILKS, Dick Francis & Felix Francis

My rating: 4.4

Review: SILKS, Dick Francis & Felix Francis

Penguin, 2008, ISBN 978-0-718-15457-8, 368 pages

When defence barrister Geoffrey Mason's client, a really nasty spoilt brat called Julian Trent, gets convicted on 8 counts of assault and bodily harm that Geoffrey knows he is guilty of, he is not disappointed with the result. Julian Trent gets 8 years, but within months the conviction is overturned in the appeal court. Significantly the jury spokesman has reported a miscarriage of justice, that he was threatened by the prosecuting lawyer.

Geoffrey is also an amateur jumps jockey, riding half a ton of horse over five foot fences at 30 miles an hour. Geoffrey and his horse have just become a force to be reckoned with, a successful amateur team. Geoffrey witnesses an altercation between two professional jockeys, and then Scot Barlow is dead and Steve Mitchell is accused of the murder.

Geoffrey does not want to take the case on but finds himself the barrister defending Steve Mitchell. And now a voice on the phone, whom he thinks is Julian Trent, wants him to make sure that his client is found guilty, or else.

This story is interesting on two levels: first of all it is the second novel where Felix Francis has joined his more famous father, Dick. Secondly, much of the action is set in the future, and all of it would have been in the future when the novel was at the publishers waiting to see the light.

SILKS has the appeal that all Dick Francis novels have always had for me. It flows easily with plenty of action and tension. There's a touch of human interest with the developing relationship between Geoffrey and the vet Eleanor. People have been threatened, others have disappeared, one has committed suicide, and its all wrapped around the racing world. This is the stuff that Dick Francis has always been good at and it makes SILKS worth looking for.

My rating: 4.6

Check all the Dick Francis titles at Fantastic Fiction.