Hands Down

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Sid starts to investigate and soon finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that cuts to the very heart of the integrity of British horse racing. His wife and daughter have left for the Netherlands to see her parents leaving him free to dig to the bottom of this mystery. Suffice it to say the story held me captive for a few good hours - well written with plenty of action.

Jockey-turned-private eye Sid Halley was last seen in Refusal after losing his left hand in a nasty fight with even nastier opponents; for his troubles, he ended up with a prosthetic hand and a wife who who insisted that he quit his detecting work.I have no intention in spending anymore time in writing a review for a book I won’t be continuing- just wasn’t for me. Sid was missing his wife and daughter, but he also felt duty bound to sort out who was doing what to rig races.

This cuts into proceeds and earnings for the riders and the trainers, but on agent outfit gets its claws into both groups through some pretty easily arranged blackmail. I’m afraid those old shoes were pretty hard to fill, thus my disappointment about the slightly rehashed crime that begs for Sid’s attention and makes him a target of those he tries to thwart.Could it really be the case that someone was trying to manipulate all of British racing for their own greedy ends? Sid Halley, former champion jockey who lost a hand to a terrible fall in a race and subsequent additional injury, now has an astonishing real live, and live is the operative adjective, transplanted left hand, which he has to mind carefully but which seems to be a growing cause of estrangement for his wife.

This was an engaging read, full of suspense, fast paced, gripping, looking at the underbelly of the racing world, but how are these masterminds controlling things without being caught? Now he's back - decked out with a new but real hand courtesy of a donor that, with the help of anti-rejection drugs, is working better every day. For over forty years, the London University grad helped father Dick Francis (31 Oct 1920 – 14 Feb 2010), ex-jockey known for horse-racing mysteries. With his mind elsewhere, Sid poo-poos the situation and puts the guy on hold at least for a couple of days. Having Sid Halley back was so welcome, for the rest the author has a knack for making his characters believable and down to earth, even though you don’t know them there is a familiarity to them, you can relate to each.I did feel this entry in the series was maybe a trifle more scattered and difficult to follow than most of the others. And he's married to his beloved Marina and has a nine-year-old daughter named Saskia who is the center of his existence. Overall this is a highly engaging and enjoyable read, that features many a twist, It keeps you gripped and enthralled in suspense.