Under Orders: the Return of Sid Halley, One-Handed Wonder
Written: Nov 06 '06 (Updated Nov 06 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: linear, straightforward style without phony red herrings and tortuous plot twists
Cons: an appallingly obvious job of dropping the crucial clue
The Bottom Line: Dick Francis is back after a six-year hiatus, and it's like he never left. Whether that's a good depends on how much you adore the guy, I suppose.
Though it's been six years since last he published, it's a safe bet that British mystery writer Dick Francis hasn't lost a single one of his legion of fans. On self-imposed hiatus in the wake of his wife's death, Francis has finally broken the long dry spell with not only a new novel, but with the return of his most popular character, jump jockey turned professional sleuth Sid Halley. If the buzz is true, fans are ecstatic with the appearance of Under Orders. Truth be told, it's nice to have the guy back in the saddle, pun intended: there's certainly something comforting about a new Francis novel...
Just because Sid Halley could no longer ride in a steeplechase didn't mean he'd quit hanging out at the tracks. That's where he found most of the clients for his investigative agency - not to mention where he found many of the bodies he seemed to stumble upon so frequently. What? it happened again? Yes, and this time, the dead man was a jockey; a handsome lad whose looks were only slightly marred by a surprised expression and three bullet holes in his chest. Looked like an open-and-shut case: the dead jockey had, minutes before, been arguing with a trainer with whose young wife the fellow had been... "keeping company." Yep, open-and-shut, since it was also rumored that the two had been fixing races - especially after the trainer turned up dead himself, an apparent suicide.
A brace of bodies notwithstanding, Halley had a pretty good day at the track: not money, though; work. Not only did Sid end up investigating the jockey's death for the lad's pa, he also picked up a couple of other clients interested in the real money in racing: gambling. Not just some penny-ante fixed races, either: one client had him investigating the twenty-first century's big kahuna; on-line gambling. Now that's real money.
Big money meant big risk, although not for Sid (at least not at first). No, it was his lovely live-in girlfriend Marina who received the unwanted attentions of the villains. Never the stereotypical dumb jock, Sid knew that if he caved to the demands his career as an investigator was over: that meant he needed to flush out the real murderer, and fast. Would Sid Halley be up to the task? You wanna bet on it?
Dick Francis has never been known for neck-wrenching plot twists or complex story lines, and Under Orders certainly doesn't challenge his legacy. With naught resembling a red herring anywhere in the picture, the intrepid sleuth's path to the moment of truth is simple and strictly linear. One might think that Francis has gotten a bit rusty for Under Orders, though, as the writing isn't quite up to the standard of the twenty-some previous installments in the series (Whip Hand, Come to Grief). In keeping with the "rules" of mystery novels, the villain is introduced as a character, albeit decidedly minor (a bit of a cheat for my tastes) - but the clue leading to his accomplice, and eventually to the bad guy, drops with an uncharacteristic clumsy "thud."
The bulk of the novel, typical of a Francis mystery, lies in Sid's method of discovery: there's a wealth of expository passages. Readers gain insights into sports betting, especially on the internet; and I don't know about anyone else, but I learned how to fix a horse race...
In short, Dick Francis is back and his legion of fans will be pleased with the diminutive author's reappearance - and with new glimpse of one-handed Sid Halley. Here's an author who writes consistently interesting tales, even if they don't necessarily raise one's pulse rate to the stratosphere or give the puzzle-solving center in the brain an anaerobic workout. In fact, the Halley series is about as far from noir as it can get, which may well be key to its success.
Sid Halley, former jockey-turned-detective, returns. Death at the races is not uncommon, but three in one day--including a winning horse and champion ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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