Dead Cert (Standalone) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Dead Cert
Series: Standalone
Author: Dick Francis
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Mystery
Pages: 218
Words: 86K
Publish: 1962

First off, that has got to be one of the world’s ugliest, most uncreative covers ever. I don’t like it and the publishers should be totally ashamed of themselves. In fact, if the publishers were standing right in front of me now, I’d punch them in their ugly face and tell them that cover hurts me more than me mashing their schnozzes did them. #metoo

I saw Dick Francis books all through my growing up years. He was at the library. He was at K-Mart. He was at Barnes & Noble. He was at the airport. He was everywhere. Most of the time the covers just had his name in HUGE letters and then a small title and no picture. I was not interested in a book styled that way (of course, what I’m showcasing here is even worse, so be careful what you wish for, right?). Fast forward 30+ years to today when I was on the hunt for new to me old books. I think somebody recommended Dick Francis to me as an author in one of my “Book Recommendations” posts. So I knew the name, I just didn’t know anything about him or the stories he wrote. My interested was piqued when I found out that most of his stuff was standalone stories. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind multi-volume stories or even series that are self-contained stories, but there is a part of me that just wants to read ONE book and have that be it. Francis filled that niche. It has taken me almost 18months to start, but given my TBR Reading List, is actually quite a reasonable time frame. I also knew that horses and equestrian racing formed the nucleus of the stories, so I prepared myself for all sorts of horsey things.

This was an enjoyable murder mystery that at times left me scratching my head as to why the main character was doing what he was doing instead of going to the police. Then I realized it was 1962 and things were a little different in Merry Old England than they are today. Seriously though, that was the part of the story that made this 3stars and not any higher. It also brought out just how much the speed of communication changes things. Walking somewhere to get to a telephone. Leaving messages. Crime was slower because life itself was slower because it was going as fast as it could but it just wasn’t as fast as today. Now that I’ve gotten this first book under my belt I expect to be a little better prepared for next time. I’m not sure that if the main character in the next book tries to be super detective man that that will go over any better than it did here though. Our guy has to play detective because the police aren’t doing anything, but man, it just didn’t ring true. Even with the “Oh, it’s 1962”. It’s probably as realistic though as those filthy casual cozy murder mysteries where some bleeping blonde bimbo baker solves a mystery with her friends instead of actually running her bakery.

I learned about steeple chasing (the specific kind of horse racing featured here in the story) and am now an expert. Ask me anything about it and I’ll give you the answer. It probably won’t be the correct answer, but that’s on you for asking some random guy on the internet questions about horse racing.

While I enjoyed this book overall, it did feel like the kind of popcorn summer book that people who only read a book a year would read. What I am hoping for is that each book will be different enough to set it apart from its predecessors.

★★★☆☆

From Wikipedia

Admiral should have won his race at Maidenhead, but an unexpected fall and the accidental death of top jockey Bill Davidson gave his friend, Alan York, the win instead. But Alan recognised a trip wire when he saw one and was not about to let a murderous act go unpunished. The trouble was that he left drawing it to the attention of the authorities too late and the evidence had disappeared. Only the efficient Police Inspector Lodge is prepared to believe that it was a deliberate killing - and at first is inclined to suspect Alan's involvement.

Alan is persuaded to ride a novice hunter in another race and is surprised to find it belongs to the glamorous Kate Ellery-Penn, whose Uncle George has given her the horse as a birthday present. Alan is attracted to her from the start, but unfortunately so is another of his jockey friends, Dane.

As he leaves the course, Alan comes across two gangs of taxi drivers, from London and Brighton, brutally fighting it out with knives and knuckle-dusters. Not long afterwards he recognises some of them when he is roughed up as a warning not to pursue his enquiries, but this only spurs him on to investigate what is obviously an organised attempt to interfere with horse racing on a wider scale than he had first thought. Some of his jockey colleagues have already come under suspicion for deliberately slowing down their mounts: the popular and experienced Sandy Mason, for example, and the cocky but easily panicked youngster, Joe Nantwich.

From now on Alan sets out on a double pursuit, of the gang responsible for the death of his friend, and of Kate. The latter lives in a stately house in Sussex with her upper-crust Uncle and her Aunt Deb, who does her best to discourage Alan from taking his interest in Kate further when he pays a weekend stay. While there he visits Brighton with Kate and comes across an ex-military pub landlord who has organised his fellow owners of small businesses in resisting a protection racket. Taxi drivers from one of the local firms were involved with this and Alan traces some of those he recognises from his earlier run-in with them to Marconicars.

Before he can take things much further, Alan's own horse is tripped during a race. As he lies on the ground helpless, one of those who had helped rig the wire comes over and kicks him unconscious. When he comes round in hospital, he is concussed and there are gaps in his memory. Back at Bill Davidson's house, where he continues to live for the time being, he discovers that one of Bill's young sons routinely listens to incoming phone calls. From him he learns that Bill had received a phone instruction to pull the race in which he died. Having had such a call too, Alan had forewarned Inspector Lodge of what might happen and is visited by him as he recovers. Suspicion seems to point to a bookmaker who has an office above Marconicars and to one of their principal customers.

Joe Nantwich has discovered a clue to who might be rigging the races but before he can hand it over to Alan, he is stabbed to death at the West Sussex races. Next the killers come after Alan, posing as police officers, but he manages to escape them on Admiral (which he has inherited from Bill) and jumps over the wayside hedges into the fields and then a fir plantation, with the fake officers and the Marconicars fleet combing all the nearby roads.

Overcoming one of their drivers, Alan heads for the main office and finds Uncle George at the radio microphone, furiously insisting that Alan be killed. Rather than be arrested, Uncle George shoots himself and consequently Kate rejects Alan, only relenting later and agreeing to marry him. When Alan's memory returns fully, he realises it was Sandy Mason who had been passing on information about his enquiries to the gang and had kicked him after his fall. With Dane's magnanimous help, Alan gets his revenge by unseating Sandy from his horse mid-race.