Come Grief, Reflex, Beak In, Under Orders and Field of 13
COME TO GRIEF
and
REFLEX
A jockey unravels nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail, and murder in this mystery from grand master of crime fiction Dick Francis.
Longtime jockey Philip Nore is no hero. But when he begins to suspect that a racetrack photographers fatal accident was really murder, he sets out to discover the truth and trap the killer. Slowly, he unravels some nasty secrets of corruption, blackmail and murderand unwittingly sets himself up as the killers next target...
and
BREAK IN
Family ties mean trouble, chains and fatal obligations . And when steeplechase jockey Kit Fielding comes to the aid of his twin sister and her husband, Bobby Allardeck, even death threatens . A vicious newspaper campaign jeopardizes Bobbys career as a racehorse trainer . Putting behind him the age-old Allardeck-Fielding feud, Kit tries to find out who is behind it all . Combining his investigations with riding winners for the Princess - whose beautiful niece becomes more than a friend - he makes some startling discoveries
and
UNDER ORDERS
Under Orders is an adventure that just barrels along, packed to the rafters with intrigue. Any momentary relief to the tension afforded by the occasional intervention of a comedic or romantic interlude (yes, they do actually happen, I kid you not) ostensibly for character development, provide a startling contrast to the sense of danger and jeopardy that so utterly characterises the rest of the novel.
Under Orders is well structured and confidently crafted, and is in possession of a great many enjoyable aspects. I was most impressed by the consistently exhaustive amount of detail, the setting (the horse racing scene, jockeys here, there and everywhere) and Francis undeniable talent for storytelling. If the devil is in the details, then he is eagerly dancing to Francis tune, because Under Orders practically brims with solid, factual information. This arguably lends the novel an impressive sense of dependable believability, and this firm injection of cold, hard realism ensures that the setting, so well and vibrantly described, practically leaps from the page, enabling a fully immersive read. Francis writes about topics he knows, and his mastery of those topics is palpable. and
Field of 13
