Date first published	21/09/2017
ISBN Number	978-1 -4711- 5551 -2
Page Count	436 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

Chris Rankin is a doctor, a specialist in Emergency Medicine at Cheltenham Hospital, but a doctor who also has health problems, mental health problems.

A smartly dressed man has been found unconscious at the local racecourse and is rushed to the hospital, where he subsequently dies. But who is he? Where does he come from? He had no form of identification on him, and no one claims the body.

Dr Rankin is intrigued by the nameless dead man, obsessed even, and starts asking questions. However someone doesn't want the questions answered and will go to any lengths to prevent it, including murder. But no one else will believe that someone tried to kill Chris, leaving our doctor no option but to discover who the nameless man was and why he died, preferably before following him into an early grave.

Review

Occasionally out of the Francis stable comes a really great story where all the elements come together in the perfect novel, this is the first from Felix, and is probably his most accomplished novel to date (2019).

I'm fairly sure that this novel is also the first to feature a female as the main character, I certainly don't recollect another lead character being female from the Dick Francis years.

The story could be quite straight forward apart from the fact that Chris has more than a few mental health problems, which she is trying to hide from her bosses. Is her increasingly eratic behaviour due to her mental health or is she really being targeted for asking the wrong questions to the wrong people?

The story actually takes a hiatus part way through as she receives treatments in hospital. On her return home however ominous dark clouds are gathering which not only threaten Chris but also her family.

This story does more than most Francis novels to flesh out the main character - which is needed to understand her mental state. The other characters are standard Francis fare, giving you enough detail to forma a mental picture but no more.

To some up an interesting story set in the horsing racing world but slightly apart (as some of the best Francis novels are want to do), with an intriguing window on the world of mental health.

Previous	Index	Next