Review: Break In

Break In by Dick Francis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Dick Francis mystery, and another Dick Francis hero. Here, our hero is a steeplechase jockey who figures out a crime against his sister and her husband, negotiating with base criminal henchman and the wealthy and connected people that employ them. As is usual, the hero faces some major physical inducements to stop his involvement, but unlike most of Francis’ heroes this stopped short of torture and/or a necessary hospital stay. Well, except for stiches. Also unlike other Francis books that I’ve read, there seems to be little in the way of a heavily researched side topic in the mystery. The closest we get to coming afield of horse racing is the description of a telephone bug, circa 1970s. Despite missing these hallmarks, I found that I enjoyed the story. There was even a touch of romance here. I am not surprised that Fielding makes his way to an additional Francis story, as he was the most likeable of the ones I’ve read so far. I read the follow on, “Bolt”, a while ago and didn’t rate it highly. I suspect had I read them in order I’d have rated “Bolt” a bit higher.

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