Alice B. reviewed on + 3559 more book reviews
This is great Mystery. 1991.
I always enjoy the stand-alone mysteries of Dick Francis. They always have a tie to the world of horse racing, the hero is a decent person, and the author plays fair with the reader. Straight was no exception.
In this novel, the jockey, at the end of his career, Derek Franklin is unexpectedly tossed into the deep end of the pool of the world of gemology when his brother Grenville dies unexpectedly. There are so many questions to be answered: did the brother really buy diamonds (not something he usually bought), is there something going on with the race horse the brother owned, is there something going on related to his brother's job as a magistrate, and just who is making the hero's life so difficult? The author plays absolutely fair in solving all of those questions. This quotation sums up the book nicely: "I inherited my brother's life. Inherited his desk, his business, his gadgets, his enemies, his horses and his mistress. I inherited my brother's life, and it nearly killed me."
I always enjoy the stand-alone mysteries of Dick Francis. They always have a tie to the world of horse racing, the hero is a decent person, and the author plays fair with the reader. Straight was no exception.
In this novel, the jockey, at the end of his career, Derek Franklin is unexpectedly tossed into the deep end of the pool of the world of gemology when his brother Grenville dies unexpectedly. There are so many questions to be answered: did the brother really buy diamonds (not something he usually bought), is there something going on with the race horse the brother owned, is there something going on related to his brother's job as a magistrate, and just who is making the hero's life so difficult? The author plays absolutely fair in solving all of those questions. This quotation sums up the book nicely: "I inherited my brother's life. Inherited his desk, his business, his gadgets, his enemies, his horses and his mistress. I inherited my brother's life, and it nearly killed me."
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