Waiting on Wednesday (20)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. So here's a thing I'm looking forward to: Refusal, by Felix Francis (September 3, 2013, from Putnam).

Six years ago, investigator Sid Halley retired for good. He'd been harassed, beaten, shot, even lost a hand to his investigating business, and enough was enough. For the sake of his wife and new daughter he gave up that life of danger and uncertainty, and he thought nothing would ever lure him back into the game.

He thought wrong. Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the racing authority, begs Sid to investigate a series of dodgy races. Sid adamantly refuses, but the following day, Sir Richard is found dead under suspicious circumstances. And then a man with an Irish accent contacts Sid, telling him to deliver a whitewashed report about the suspected race-fixing . . . or else.

At first Sid ignores these warnings, knowing that once he submits to this criminal bully, he will forever be under his control. But as the intimidation tactics escalate—and Sid's own family comes under threat—Sid realizes he must meet his enemy head-on . . . or he might pay the ultimate price for his refusal.
 

*****

I've read all of Dick Francis's novels, most of them two or three times. They don't tend to stick in my mind, and I don't object to that; it means I can read them again without remembering who the villain is. 
 
Son Felix's extremely similar thrillers are pretty fun too, though I've skipped a couple of those without regret. For the most part, they don't really use characters created by his father, and I kind of wish that they didn't all have Dick Francis's name on the cover as if he were still alive and had something to do with writing them; I think Felix Francis could totally command a certain readership without that.

This one, though, does have Sid Halley in it, the one character that Dick Francis used often enough for him to qualify as a series hero, so I guess it's fitting that his name is all over it. I like Sid as a character, so I'll probably pick this one up.

 

Under orders

Dick Francis returns with his first new novel since the death of his wife, who was also his chief researcher.  He retired, but has been talked out of retirement.  I think he may have gotten some bad advice.

Most Francis novels are stand-alone; he's only used a couple of recurring characters in his entire writing career.  This new one brings back Sid Halley, a jockey who became an investigator when catastrophic injury ended his racing days.  Sid has been featured in four books, which almost qualifies him as a series hero.

In this book a jockey is murdered after winning a race for a trainer who was visibly angry with him afterwards.  Accusations of race-fixing fly.  A racehorse owner asks Sid to look into that angle, while the murdered man's father wants him to find the killer.  Another death seems to provide an answer, but Sid is sure it's not the right one, and his belief is reinforced when he starts to receive threats--not to himself, since it's been well-established that threats only encourage him to keep digging, but to his new girlfriend.

Well-plotted, though in hindsight I see I probably should have guessed at least one of the villains from the Law of Conservation of Characters.  At the time I just enjoyed the ride.  But the style isn't nearly as polished as I'd come to expect from Francis, and the research shows too much; a couple of the characters have an unfortunate tendency to go in for highly technical lectures instead of more natural dialogue.  Some of the characters behaved in out-of-character ways, a problem that wouldn't have arisen if this novel didn't have a cast that had appeared before.  It was pretty good, but not one of Francis's best.

Originally posted at MySpace 10/13/06