Hot Money

I really wanted to read a Dick Francis book after watching Zenyatta in the Breeders Cup.  She is such an amazing horse.  For anyone who has never read Dick Francis, he is a former steeplechase jockey, and all of his books are mysteries that somehow involve the horse racing world.  Usually the main character is a kind of everyman, often a jockey or trainer, who somehow gets recruited to solve a murder or fix some other kind of crisis.  I got really into these books once I outgrew the Thoroughbred and Saddle Club series and now DF is in my top 5 of favorite authors, and luckily he wrote like 400 books before he passed away a few months ago (RIP...seriously, I got teary when I read his obituary, that's how much I love him) so I still have plenty to enjoy.  If you're into horses like I am, you'll love these books, but honestly they are great mystery stories even if you take out the horse stuff - really great pace, lots of unexpected creative plot twists, entertaining and realistic dialogue.  And you will learn some funny British words.

Hot Money is about a jockey, Ian, who is from a mixed family - his dad's 5th wife was recently murdered and now it looks like the murderer is after his estranged father too, so Ian reconciles with his dad and basically becomes his bodyguard and private detective.  They know that the murderer is almost certainly one of Ian's half-siblings, so there's a lot of thought provoking issues about family betrayal, childhood trauma, and greed.  The dad is a great character - comic at times but also very real and likable.  A lot of the story involves the family home and the house almost becomes like a character as well.  DF never disappoints.

If you want to see one of the most heartbreaking moments in sports, check out this video of Dick Francis riding Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SUCvrzdILE

Up Next: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, by JK Rowling