Enquiry (published in 1969) - A jockey in search of justice, find out who framed him

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded in CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Jockey Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield are suspended for life by the Oxford Stewards for deliberately throwing racing matches. Dexter goes in to a depression and numbs his grief with the help of the bottle. But Hughes, made of sterner stuff channelizes his anger in finding out who framed him and planted the evidence. His journey takes him in to a murkier world of murder, deceit and blackmail.



This book is extremely interesting because Hughes is not a detective or even a snoopy curious guy. He is just a person in search of justice and so he does not even know where to begin. He just starts with the obvious, investigating all the people who gave evidence against him during the hearing. So the chipping away of the layers happens where shady characters who do away non conforming jockeys are unveiled.
Hughes gets his help from an unexpected quarter, Roberta - his employer's daughter helps him in his quest. Hughes and Roberta are poles apart with a yawning class divide between them. Roberta's dad treats jockeys as third class citizens and would be horrified to find his daughter consorting with such men. Hughes initially does not like this snooty, spoilt rich girl, but soon they become allies and then love blossoms. To my extreme relief Dick Francis let Hughes to get the girl which is pretty unusual. This is one of the characteristic of Dick Francis's novels, that the good guys never surely get the girl, the only thing he assures is that the good guy survives even romantic failures.
The book is amazing with a great pace. Each actions and even simple happenings are for some reason and Francis ties all the loose ends admirably. When Hughes clears his name I just said a hurrah for that man's indomitable spirit even though he was just a character. A real feel good book, but beware of being sucked into the vortex. You can never stop at anytime till you have reached the end.