Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis
Putnam
338 Pages
Copyright 2008
Silks is the second collaboration between Dick Francis, who authored 40 books on his own, and his son, Felix. The story is vintage Francis – a compelling mystery set against the English racing industry.
Amateur Steeplechase jockey and London Barrister, Geoffrey Mason finds himself defending professional jockey Scot Barlow for the sensational murder of another jockey. Mason, who has information that could be pertinent to the case, keeps silent and defends Barlow after being threatened by a former client, one that had been sent to prison for a brutal assault. The client’s sentence is overturned on appeal and allegations of jury tampering by another Crown Attorney. Mason, at first, has no intention of taking the case much less losing it as he is being instructed to do, until he receives photographs of family and friends taken from inside their homes and their places of business. He then takes the case but finally decides he will not be intimidated and sets out to win... and to stop those who would harm the people he loves.
This is the first of the collaborations that I’ve read and I’m not sure I’ll read another. There are flairs of the old Dick Francis in the story but I didn’t like the hero all that much, especially when it came to the end of the story. I did enjoy the courtroom setting and I learned a few things about the English system of jurisprudence that were interesting. Like, there’s a difference between an attorney and a barrister and that a barrister can work both sides of the aisle, so to speak – he can prosecute a case or be assigned to defend it. The big courtroom climax, however, seemed abrupt and trite and then, the ending of the book left me intensely disliking Mason. I understood his actions but I certainly didn’t like them or him.
Recommendation: It isn’t a bad book but I’ve definitely read better. If you’re interested in a good horse based mystery, I’ll suggest you read some vintage Dick Francis. His stories were superior to this collaboration
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