Description:

A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers.
Malcolm Pembroke didn't get rich without making a few enemies - not least among the five wives and nine children left like wreckage in his wake.
But when Moira, his fifth wife, is murdered and Malcolm believes that someone is out to get him, he knows of only one person he can turn to: his estranged son, Ian.
Ian - an amateur jockey - wants nothing to do with his father until it becomes clear the old man's life is in danger. And worst of all the evidence suggests it's from someone in the family.
Can Ian work out who it is before they strike again?
Praise for Dick Francis: *
*' As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror
' Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph
' The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman
' Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard
' A regular winner . . . as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express
'A super chiller and killer' New York Times Book Review
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.
During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000.
Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.

From Publishers Weekly

Francis has another winner, as skillfully constructed as his previous bestsellers. This time, amateur British jockey Ian Pembroke tells what happens after the murder of his father Malcolm's fifth wife, Moira. A rapacious, sharp-tongued woman, she has caused a break between Malcolm and Ian, who despised her for marrying his father solely to get her hands on his considerable fortune. But two attempts on the old man's life compel him to ask Ian for help. Although the trusted son isn't fond of his eight half-siblings or their motheror even of his ownhe's loath to suspect them of conspiring to kill Malcolm, which seems to be the case. To protect his father, Ian takes him to America and other countries, where the two attend the glamorous, big-purse horse racesscenes at which the author excelsbefore returning warily to England. The story gains momentum, with extended family members furious over Malcolm's spending spree and blaming Ian for wasting their inheritance. A real spellbinder, the mystery ends when the miscreant plays one trick too many. Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection; Literary Guild dual selection and Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Malcolm Pembroke has the Midas touch for making money. With wealth in excess of 100 million pounds and the ability to make investments that never go wrong, he should be happy. However, he has not been as successful in his personal life; married five times with eight children, his last wife, Moira, was murdered. And now someone is trying to kill him. When Malcolm convinces his son Ian to accompany him to Newmarket Sales, Ian finds out firsthand about the murderous atmosphere surrounding his father. As Ian investigates their family he finds motive and malice to spare, and soon he is also in the murderer!s sites. For nonstop action and edge-of-the-seat suspense, it!s hard to top Francis. Simon Prebble!s precise accent and ability to make each voice unique make this performance a winner. Highly recommended for all public libraries.?Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.