Third Race at the LT Racetrack: A Dick Francis SHARED Read

Hello, Dick Francis Fans!

In 2019 we had Saddle up for Dick Francis' horsy adventures!, set in and around the British horse-racing world.

In 2020 we had Around the World with Horses, with a globe-trotting theme.

Thanks to Julia for making such excellent choices both years and inspiring so many of us to pick up Dick Francis again.

In my maiden effort, I’ve been considering how to approach the 2021 shared read. I mentioned Banker at the end of the 2020 thread and so many people jumped on the idea of reading it and having another shared read that with Julia’s kind relinquishing of the mantle, I’m recommending the following 6 books. I’ve chosen them because I’m a very logical person and love spreadsheets – this should not be a surprise to those of you who know me!

So. Dick Francis wrote over the course of 5 decades. Banker is already chosen by popular acclaim, so for the other 5 I simply picked the highest LT-rated book for each decade, with one exception.

Here's our tentative schedule for 2021:

January-February — Banker, from the 1980s. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 1, Banker
March-April — Odds Against from the 1960s, first in the Sid Halley series. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 2, Odds Against
May-June — Bonecrack from the 1970s. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 3, Bonecrack
July-August — Hot Money, again from the 1980s. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 4, Hot Money
September-October — Decider from the 1990s. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 5, Decider
November-December — Shattered from the 2000s – has a slightly lower rating than his other book from the 2000s, but that one is the 5th in the Sid Halley series so I didn’t consider it, being a person who likes to read series in order. Here's the thread: Third Race at the LT Racetrack: Book 6, Shattered

Paraphrasing Julia, As we get to each book, I'll link an introductory non-spoiler thread make it easy to navigate through this thread as it grows. The rest is up to you. Any and all comments, questions, or quotes that come to mind as you read are welcome. Please use spoiler tags for anything that might be a spoiler.



For those of you who would like to learn more about Dick Francis or refresh your memory, here’s a quote and link from Julia: “As most of you know, Francis was a champion steeplechase jockey in England before turning to writing mystery novels after retiring." Dick Francis, introductory post

I’m happy that we’re going to have a third year of sharing Dick Francis together. Grab your helmet, put on your silks, and get ready for the third race!

Thank you, Karen, for coninuing the Dick Francis thread.

I am reading Banker right now :-)

Odds Against is not available at my library, I will look for a second hand copy
It looks like Bonecrack was never translated into Dutch :-(
Hot Money is not available at my library, I will look for a second hand copy
Decider is available at the e-library
Shattered is available at the e-library (your link to this one goes to the wrong book)

Thanks so much, Karen for setting this up. I join the reading.
BTW Shattered leads to another book.

>2 FAMeulstee: You're welcome, Anita. The last two years have been a lot of fun and I hope this year continues the trend.

If you'd like to pick another book as a Bonecrack alternative, I'll be glad to add it.

>3 Ameise1: You're welcome, Barbara.

Touchstone fixed!

Hooray! I’m really looking forward to this. Thanks for taking the wheel, Karen. We are in excellent hands.

Thank you, Julia, Much appreciated.

I have it listed on my thread for a January read!! Now I just have to get a copy. ; )

Yay Kim! So glad you can join us.

>4 karenmarie: Thanks for your suggestion, Karen.
I have been looking at other Dick Francis books and I think I would like to read Whip Hand, the second Sid Halley book, instead of Bonecrack.
Whip Hand is not available at the library, I first have to find a copy. So please don't add it before I actually get the book :-)

I think I’ll join in with Banker! I spent some time checking out Overdrive to see if any of my libraries were offering it on loan. Then I checked Amazon to see how much the Kindle version was and Amazon kindly noted that I had purchased it two years ago. :) Books really do get lost on my Kindle.

I’m also not sure if I’ve already read it or not, but no matter.

Thanks for taking over the reins, Karen, and thank you, Julia, for your enthusiasm for the past two years!!

I'll be joining in, too, now that I've found your thread.

I have a copy of Banker which I read many years ago.

Banker -- There was one person I wish hadn't died and the ending was a little too perfect, but I haven't read a mystery by this author in quite a while and it was so much fun to get back to him. Glad I found this group read!

I finished my re-read of Banker recently, and I'm happy to report I enjoyed it just as much this time around, despite remembering the general plot and the identity of the villain. Dick Francis just had a way of creating memorable characters and immersing his readers in the day-to-day workings of various occupations that will never not be fascinating to me.

One of those occupations this time around was our protagonist, Tim Ekaterin, being a merchant banker. I remember when I first read this (pre-Internet) not fully understanding what a merchant bank was, but not bothering to look it up. Now that we have the world's knowledge at our fingertips, I did a little Googling and found that my initial assumption — that what Francis calls a "merchant bank" is the UK equivalent of what Americans would call an "investment bank" — wasn't quite correct.

As I now (imperfectly) understand it, it isn't so much a geographical difference in nomenclature as a difference in the size of their commercial lending clients — investment banks deal with the big fish, and merchant banks tend to work more with small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. If you are also curious, here's an article I found that does a good job of explaining: What Is a Merchant Bank?.

I also enjoyed learning the details of how a stud farm sets its fees and how it works. I didn't know the mares went to their next "assignment" still pregnant from the previous year, and how little time between there is.

Edited to add that I posted my review on the book page if anyone would like to read it. I thought posting it in its entirety here might be a bit much.

I am still waiting for my used copy of The Banker but it is "on the way." The library doesn't have it. Glad we have two months to read it but looking forward to it!

>9 FAMeulstee: Just let me know, Anita. I’m glad I hadn’t already picked one or two alternates.

>10 Copperskye: Yay Joanne. Finding it already on your Kindle is a bonus – glad Amazon lets you know when you’ve already bought something. It’s saved me acquiring things twice, too.

I read Banker way before I joined LT. I don’t mind re-reads and with this book didn’t remember a single thing about it other than I liked it so much that I’ve pretty much read everything except 3 by him and 3 by him and his son. Glad to take up the reins.

>11 streamsong: Excellent, Janet! Glad to see you here.

>12 Berly: Hi Kim. I agree with you on both counts.

>13 rosalita: Excellent observations and information, Julia.

>14 witchyrichy: Hi Karen. Julia set the perfect pace from day one in the first SHARED Read thread – one book every two months. Not onerous at all; easy, IMO, to read Mr. Francis throughout the year without feeling stressed.

O.K. I'll need a Frances pretty quickly, so I'll choose Banker for February!

I finished Banker. This was a reread for me, but I didn't remember the plot until the foal with a partial ear was born. Since I work(ed) in genetics, I knew right away that it was not an inherited problem since each foal was different in the way it was affected. I thoroughly agree with the vet that was murdered - this is a form of cruelty and I have a hard time reading about cruelty. It makes me physically a bit sick. But murder ... no idea how I am able to not be as bothered by a human murder as a plot device. The murder of an innocent character like Ginnie bothered me, though.

This one also seemed a bit dated to me. It was written almost 40 years ago in 1982, so I guess that is to be expected.

The horse breeding industry has changed very much and is very technical. In the US, Thoroughbred mares still are required to be 'live covered' by a stallion. I suspect it is the same in the UK. But mares are followed closely pre and post breeding with ultrasounds. Prebreeding, the mare's ovaries are watched closely and hopefully only one follicle advances in size and releases an egg. The time of egg release is known within a very short time frame to optimize the time of breeding. An ultrasound is performed at 9-12 days after breeding to check for a conceptus. If there isn't one, the mare can then be hormonally short cycled or left to proceed naturally. A follow up ultrasound is done at 21 - 30 days to make sure the embryo has attached normally, that the heart beat is normal and that there aren't twins.

The female roles are also a bit outdated. There are no female bank directors or senior staff. I was happy to see the woman bloodstock agent but surprised at the lack of female grooms at the breeding farm. I guess it passes the Bechtold test since Judith and Ginnie talk about 'feminine things' although it's off camera so to speak. I just read Jia Tolentinos essay 'Pure Heroines' in her book Trick Mirror. so I'm a bit oversensitized to female roles right now - and especially male authors writing rape as a plot device. Although Ginnie wasn't raped, the other murdered girls were as a red herring.

When I looked at the People/Characters list here at LT, not a single female character is listed - neither Ginnie nor Judith. I thought I'd fix it, but decided to point it out here before I did.

And then there's the whole selenium thing. I live in a selenium deficient area . I've spent fifty years injecting broodmares with selenium, putting out salt blocks with added selenium and feeding selenium enhanced broodmare vitamins (which btw I have to keep locked up because the wild turkeys love the vitamins - I definitely have selenium over-enriched wild turkeys on my place. LOL) I've never been warned about overdosing, but I accept that the mares in question in the novel are getting a LOT more than my mares. The scientist in me spent a long time looking up info both times I read it .... oh well, it's a plot device and probably not impossible.

I think his story is accurate for the time, but in many ways this struck me as a period piece.

>15 karenmarie: Received it, read it, loved it and getting ready to check in on the thread!

>15 karenmarie: I just found out ther IS a Dutch translation of Bonecrack :-)
I ordered it online, and hope to receive it next week.

Good news, Anita! I'll be putting up the May-June thread early next week.

Hi everybody!

I will not be administering another year of the Dick Francis SHARED Read. If someone else wants to take it over, I'll be happy to read the books proposed, but I'm one and done as administrator.

I do hope folks are happy with the books chosen and have enjoyed one or more of them - although we haven't read Shattered yet and I'm looking forward to re-reading it. I don't remember a single thing about it, so once again, it's as if I'm reading it for the first time.

Just thought I'd let you all know well before the end of the year that this has been fun, I enjoyed picking the books, and I actually might try some Felix Francis books next year!