"Come to Grief" by Dick Francis describes the final result - everyone mourns many lost lives, friendships, loyalties. "I had this friend, you see, that everyone loved." I thought narrator Sid was starting with his previous case, but no, the friend and connected relationships - parents, social group, public - are the current problems. We wait pages for friend Lochinvar's real name, and others breaking down - mother Ginnie's suicides, father Gordon tries to murder Sid - only the last pages answer why. Alround sad, recurring cancer obsession implies personal tragedy, none of the trademark humor that keeps me going back for more Francis. Rating is for compelling, not "liked".Take cute feisty wide-eyed cuddler Rachel, having nightmares after sadistic mutilation of her beloved big-eyed pet Silverboy. Girl is frail, dying of leukemia. Colt is delicate fast future champion racer. Accused is popular ex-jockey TV celebrity, handsome endearing funny laughing lovable Ellis Quint, who publicized the dastardly foot amputations, repeated on full moon for months. Sid has nighmares too, fearing for surviving hand, after first crushed and torn in accident riding and by criminal torture when detecting. From page one we know the perpetrator. Suspense depends on unfolding details tantalizingly, slowly - questioning motivation why, revelation of how discovered, and resenting harsh treatment of the hero. If I hate the plot - the cruel sadistic deed, the frustration and denial knowing who, the nightmares - why read on? Dick Francis compels my curiosity, draws me into strange new worlds - horses strong, heavy; Britain high and low; a man's world of physicality, where women are periphral whiners, criers, and objects of beauty, admiration, or pity, and men willingly break and bloody bodies in fights. Stories told in the first person enable us, even if weak of body and untested in spirit, to identify with the protagonist, who has physical and moral courage, then needs to demonstrate those qualities. But he gets little praise, all private - maybe an old-fashioned kind of reward? These days, I'd think the written confession would have been front page in the tabloids. Like in the book, even today, publicity has the same ability to destroy reputations and lives, the "justice" system the same inability to deal out "justice". The resolutions Francis finds to dispose of his villains is both satisfying and disappointing. Twists are clever, such as the thirty-second delay that saves Sid's life. Books deserve higher ratings when I'm hooked in spite of misgivings or nightmares afterward.1996 Mystery Writers of America Grand Master for lifetime achievement
What is there to say about Dick Francis? As I think about all of his books (yes, this review covers all of his books, and yes I've read them all) I think about a moral ethical hero, steeped in intelligence and goodness embroiled in evil machinations within British horse racing society - either directly or indirectly. The heroes aren't always horse jockies, they can be film producers, or involve heroes engaged in peripheral professions that somehow always touch the horse racing world.But more than that, Francis's heroes are rational human beings. The choices made are rational choices directed by a firm objective philosophy that belies all of Francis's novels. The dialogue is clear and touched with humor no matter the intensity of evil that the hero faces. The hero's thoughts reveal a vulnerability that is touching, while his actions are always based on doing the right thing to achieve justice. Causing the reader to deeply care about the characters in a novel is a difficult thing to do. No such worries in a Francis novel. The point of view is first person, you are the main character as you read the story (usually the character of Mr. Douglas). The hero is personable, like able, non-violent but delivering swift justice with his mind rather than through physical means. This is not to say that violence is a stranger to our hero. Some of it staggering and often delivered by what we would think of normal persons living in British society.You will come to love the world of Steeple Chase racing, you will grow a fondness for horses, stables, trainers and the people who live in that world. You will read the books, devouring one after the other and trust me Dick Francis has a lot of novels (over 40 by my last count).There are several series woven into the fabric of Francis's work: notably the Sid Halley and Kit Fielding series.Assessment: Dick Francis is one of my favorite writers. I read his books with a fierce hunger that remains insatiable and I mourn his death.
What do You think about Come To Grief (2005)?
This is a more emotional book than Dick Francis usually writes, or that Sid Halley usually wanders his way into. He's getting used to his myoelectric hand, and the fact of his divorce from Jenny...but what's really awful is that one of his former friends (jockey-turned-newscaster) is a villain. Usually, Francis shows the dark side of a stranger via play-by-play action and insights gleaned when said smooth-faced villains are under urgent pressure to escape detection. This time, it's the sickening and domestic reality of a criminal mind under your very nose, someone you've spent time with. A Judas. This is hard to read but riveting.
—Linda
While different in style from his others, this is one of the best novels Dick Francis ever wrote. Winner of the Edgar Award, this novel is quite the page-turner, but is much more dark in style. Sid Halley makes another appearance in this book, and is in the middle of the fall out from his discovering that a famous former jockey and now TV personality is guilty of maiming horses. This coupled with the fact that one of the maimed horses is a pony owned by a young girl with leukemia and that the TV personality is a long time close friend, Halley has to come to terms with an immense amount of grief brought about by not only losing his friend, but the possibility of losing his client and the loss of his reputation through the brutal beatings he takes from the press. Very well done.
—Jane
This book brings the return of narrator Sid Halley (Odds Against; Whip Hand) as the one-handed PI and ex-jockey takes on a case of multiple mutilations of thoroughbreds; unnervingly, the amputation of the animals' front left hooves mirrors Sid's own injury. The investigator soon realizes that the man behind the crimes is his old friend Ellis Quint, ex-gentleman jockey and now a beloved TV host. Sick at heart, Sid builds a strong case; but, when Quint is charged, British law bars any public discussion of the case, rendering Sid mute at the huge public backlash against him. Particularly vicious and unrelenting is The Pump, a garish tabloid. When another mutilation occurs and Ellis has a seemingly unbreakable alibi, Sid finds some odd connections between a business tycoon, The Pump's noble owner and Ellis. Finally, the honourable, brave and thoroughly decent Sid faces his worst nightmare - the loss of his good hand - while doing what he must.
—Sorcha
