Derek Franklin, injured steeplechase jockey, is thrust into chaos following the accidental death of his brother Greville who was an importer of semi-precious stones.

Derek is likeable, direct and observant as he gets involved with his late brother’s business, his race horses and his mistress. He’s surprised then suspicious after several attempts at robbing or attacking him. There were some interesting parts to the story but not as interesting as others I’ve read by him. Still, it was an easy read. ( )

Great to read Dick Francis again. It's been years. I really enjoy his likeable central characters. Good mystery, very satisfactorily solved. A real page turner. Hard to put down. Wonderful narrator. Such a good read. ( )

Steeplechase jockey Derek Franklin is newly recovering from a broken ankle as a result of a fall and being stepped on by a horse when he receives a call that his much older brother Greville has suffered an accident and isn't expected to live. He rushes to his brother's side and is there when he passes away. He reflects that he doesn't know much about his brother's life and doesn't know who to contact.

He finds his brother's gem business and struggles to make sense of it. It is especially hard when he learns that his brother has secretly bought diamonds for one of his major clients. Greville's staff insists that they don't deal in diamonds and the bank is looking for its repayment of the loan. Derek needs to get into the twisty mind of his brother who loved puzzles and misdirection in order to find the diamonds.

He also learns that his brother was a magistrate in the process of a hearing to confirm or deny a person a license to race. One of his fellow magistrates insists that Greville had testimony essential to the hearing which he asks Derek to find.

Derek faces all sorts of attacks from a mugging when he leaves the hospital after Greville's death to a couple of burglaries to a shooting on the road that kills the car's driver and causes a massive pile-up.

Through it all, Derek is learning more about the brother that he barely knew and more about the people he dealt with. I really enjoyed this story about a man out of his depth but not in a situation beyond his abilities. ( )

His books are similar but still entertaining. ( )

jockey inherits brother's gem buisiness and troubles to go with it.