Date first published	4/9/2008
ISBN Number	0-71815-457-6
Page Count	368 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Synopsis

“Julian Trent, you have been found guilty by this court of perpetrating a violent and unprovoked attack on an innocent family including a charge of attempted murder. You have shown little or no remorse for your actions and I consider you a danger to society.”

When defence barrister Geoffrey Mason hears the judge’s verdict, he quietly hopes that a long and arduous custodial sentence will be handed down to his arrogant young client. That Julian Trent only receives eight years seems all too lenient. Little does Mason expect that he’ll be looking Trent in the eyes again much sooner than he’d ever imagined. Setting aside his barrister’s wig, Mason heads to Sandown to don his racing silks. An amateur jockey, his true passion is to be found in the saddle on a Thoroughbred, pounding the turf in the heat of a steeplechase.

When a fellow rider is brutally murdered – a pitchfork driven through his chest – Mason’s racing life soon becomes all too close to his working life. The prime suspect is one of their brethren, champion jockey Steve Mitchell; the evidence is overwhelming. Mason is reluctant to heed Mitchell’s pleas for legal advice – but soon he finds himself at the centre of a sinister web of threat and intimidation. Mason is left fighting a battle of right and wrong, and more immediately, a battle of life and death… his own.

Review

Early on we know what the crime is and who is most likely to have done it, but there are doubts. Would any murderer be stupid enough to leave betting slips on the murder weapon. Mason, knows they wouldn't. All the evidence points towards Mitchell, but why the threatening phone calls to Mason? The threats force Mason to look into things more closely, and as the court date approaches Mason seems to be no nearer finding out what has been happening.

The whole book leaves you wondering what is going on, and why. As a reader you get the feeling that if it had been left to natural justice Mitchell would have been sent down. The prosecution have good if circumstantial evidence including blood traces on Mitchell's boots and car. It is a case of the hidden force doing more than was needed, and in the end the whole thing back firing on him spectacularly.

The action in much of the book is quite muted, with Mason receiving a beating half way through, and then a final one at the conclusion - which is quite startling, as I don't think that any of Francis's characters have ever knowingly resorted to the ultimate solution. Usually the baddie dies during the fight, so this is a tad unusual.

In the previous book Dead Heat, I was not that keen on some of the political muttering that cropped up, I'm pleased to say that this book avoids that pitfall. Whilst not his best book to date, I think it far better than Dead Heat, and I think that once the partnership with his son really gets going we will see a return to form. The partnership with his wife lasted 38 years (as writers), so the machine was well oiled and running smoothly, whereas this new partnership is still finding its beat.

To some up a nice tale, told from a slightly unusual angle - the court case, and well worth a second reading.

Dick it's great to have you back.

	Index