Dick Francis: Under Orders...

[fajrdrako]

I always love the first sentence of a Dick Francis novel. This latest, Under Orders, begins: "Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon." This has a nice Dorothy Dunnett-like ring to it.

It's another novel about Sid Halley, who is, as far as I can recall, the only protagonist Francis has used more than once - the jockey who lost one hand and became a private investigator. No problem there: I like Sid Halley, though he isn't the sexiest of Dick Francis heroes. I'm not sure why I find his heroes so attractive. There's something about them, or something about his style - the books are to thrilling to be comfort reads, but they're close to it. And of course I love the first person narration.

This time, even the women were interesting - and that's unusual with Francis. I loved the meeting of Sid's first wife with his current girlfriend - the way he feared it would go, and the way it did go. The villain was suitably horrible but not excessively obvious from the beginning. Another good read.