Review: 10-lb. Penalty

10-lb. Penalty by Dick Francis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another enjoyable Dick Francis story. Here, in addition to learning about horse ownership and amateur jockeying, readers learn about the election process for MPs in England in the 70s. This is the first really political story from Francis that I’ve read, and I liked the description of local campaigning and rising political fortune, including some descriptions of 10 Downing Street written by someone who must have visited. (view spoiler)[ In most all Francis books I’ve read (and I see I’ve now read more than half of his mysteries), the protagonist faces pain and torture as a major part of the narrative. Overcoming pain is a common feature of Francis heroes. I was pleasantly surprised to see the protagonist in this book, a college-aged son of an up-and-coming politician, to only be injured two or three times throughout the book, and only facing life-or-death injuries on the last two pages (shot). Beside that episode, the only other violence in this one is a fall and concussion, a lady punched and violently saved with a drastic tackle, and the only death in the book, a steeplechase horse injured and destroyed. There may have been a couple other tackles and punches and threatening machinery, but this is by far the least violent Francis book that I can remember! And only attempted murder and libel in this one, a minor set of indiscretions compared to the normal mystery. This one really focuses on a political campaign, and I enjoyed the change of pace. (hide spoiler)] A fun read, especially if you are interested in “retail politics” in England a half a century back. And occasional digressions into steeplechase.

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