Silks

Last weekend I finished Silks, the most recent book by Dick Francis and his son, Felix Francis.

I did enjoy it, and I wanted to read it and finish it, but it was not quite as compelling a book as Under Orders, or even Dead Heat, which I think was the first book with Felix's name on the cover.

This story was much more horsey than the other Francis mysteries I've read, although in addition to horses and racing there was a lot of lawyering, too. ( I did learn there is a difference between solicitors and barristers; solicitors do lots of paperwork and barristers argue more.)

The basic story is this: Geoffrey Mason, lawyer and amateur jockey (his mom died and left him lots of money) is asked by Steve, a colleague from the horse-racing side of his life, to defend him against charges of a murder he swears he did not commit. The evidence, however, seems to leave no doubt of Steve's guilt. His pitchfork, with his betting receipts impaled on the tines, was firmly embedded in the chest of his victim. Mason initially believes Steve is guilty, but after he receives threats and other forms of intimidation, he changes his mind and fights to prove Steve's innocence. Of course, he also manages to discover the identity of the actual murderer and brings him to justice.

The story was a bit convoluted (duh, I'm so dumb, I like my mysteries easy!), but good enough for a Dick Francis fan.