Just Finished Reading Gamble by Felix Francis

Felix Francis is the son of the late Dick Francis, a British mystery writer who centered his works around the theme of horseracing in England.  After his father's death, Felix continued writing the short novels while giving the general credit as "Dick Francis's _____".  Hence the full name of the book I just read: Dick Francis's Gamble by Felix Francis.  Not having read any of the senior Francis's books, I'm in no condition to compare father with son.  But this book was a good, worthwhile venture into mystery reading, with an interesting angle, it being all related to horseracing...

Nicholas "Foxy" Foxton, in his early thirties, is still a young man...but has for more than ten years already retired from his first love, as a horserace jockey, due to an accident leaving him with a broken neck and a precarious potential outcome on any subsequent mishaps.  So he switches careers and becomes a financial advisor for Lyall and Black, a small London firm.  Many of his old racing colleagues become clients of his and he maintains, through them, a connection to the racing scene.  One day he is attending the races in a crowded stadium with a fellow financial advisor when his coworker is gunned down dead in front of everyone.  The killer disappears into the crowd and the mystery is on as to who did it and why.  The plot twists and turns this way and that with various angles thrown in, such as a jockey immediately needing a hundred grand in cash or a spurious land development venture going down in Bulgaria.  Foxton eventually finds himself to be a hunted man, both by the police and the unknown criminal mastermind who murdered his cohort...

When writing a novel in this genre, it's necessary to have a likable, sympathetic protagonist, have him or her in a state of peril, gradually solve little mysteries as the story progresses, and then at the end come up with a big surprise.  Gamble fulfills all of these conditions and also gives a glimpse into the often different way of life across the sea in England...reminding me a little of Ruth Rendell, another England-based mystery author.  Although as far as I know, Gamble is a standalone novel, I can easily see Felix Francis expanding it into a longer series, with "Foxy" Foxton solving more mysteries.  But regardless whether Dick Francis was a great writer or not, his son should write any future books solely under his own name...he has that right in his one life to be recognized for his own writing, as much as he may revere his father's legacy...