Odds Against

 

Dick Francis (read by Tony Britton)

published 1965

In which we meet Sid Halley

When an illegal takeover of a race-course is suspected, ex-jump-jockey Sid Halley investigates. It is his first  case and he is up to his eyebrows. But after three years hanging around the office of Hunt Radnor Associates, Halley has learned a lot about investigating and eventually figures it all out.

This is the first of 5 Sid Halley stories. The first three were written by Dick Francis (with 30 years between the first and the third).  The fourth by an aging Dick Francis in collaboration with his son Felix and the fifth by Felix Francis after his father's death (and it was terrible).  Odds Against was Dick Francis's fourth mystery novel and his first Edgar award nomination.  He would go on to become the only three time Edgar winner (two of which were for Sid Halley sequels).

I always read the Sid Halley stories with mixed emotions. While these are all very well-written and Sid Halley is one of the toughest characters in the Francis pantheon, there are sections that I skip because the malevolence and utter sadistic brutality portrayed is more than I want to read. If all his books were this way, I would have long since stopped reading anything by Francis.

 

Four stars