Come to Grief

TW: animal abuse
This is the second time I've read this Dick Francis novel and I had forgotten how brutal it was emotionally. Come to Grief is Sid Halley #3, and Sid is on the case looking for someone who has been cutting a foot off of horses, in almost every case leading to the horses being put to death. His prime suspect is a long-time friend and fellow ex-jockey. Meanwhile Sid's young friend Rachel has had a leukemia relapse.
This novel was hard for me to stomach at times and extremely emotional. It was supremely well written and I definitely give it 4 stars. Powerful stuff.

It seems odd to me that Dick Francis, who normally sticks to standalones, has won two of his three Edgars for Best Novel with books in his all-too-brief Sid Halley series. Come to Grief is the last of them, an unusually-structured book which, while losing none of the suspense Francis excels at, also adds new depth to the character of steeplechase-jockey-turned-private-eye Halley.

I would have loved this novel to be longer. I would have adored there to be much more Sid Halley novels. There are not. I spent the entirety of this novel very happy for a new Francis read, while very sad that my 'new Francis reads' were dwindling ever smaller.

From page one we know the perpetrator. Suspense depends on unfolding details tantalizingly, slowly - show more questioning motivation why, revelation of how discovered, and resenting harsh treatment of the hero. If I hate the cruel sadistic deed, the frustration and denial knowing who, the nightmares..... why read on? Because Francis is a genius at his craft, that's why. And I always, literally jump at the chance to read a Dick Francis novel I have not read yet.

Dick Francis compels my curiosity, draws me into strange new worlds. The world of horses, racing, and jockeys is completely foreign to me, but Francis, as usual, makes it all very accessible, likeable, and new, while revisiting this same world again. The character travels through most of Britain, high and low, to find his answers, and this is like a mini-vacation to me. Francis really knows how to write a novel that while straddling new technological advancements, they still retain the 1950's style of living/writing/being. A man's world of physicality, where women are peripheral criers, or hard-edged and cold-seeming, objects of beauty & admiration, and men willingly break and bloody bodies in fights. Stories told in the first person enable us to identify with the protagonist, who has physical and moral courage, then needs to demonstrate those qualities. But Halley gets little praise, as usual. No accolades.

As the book opens, a trial is about to begin -- the trial of Halley's longtime friend and fellow jockey Ellis Quint, now a TV presenter, for a series of horrifying and unusual crimes. Sid Halley is one of the chief witnesses for the prosecution. In the rest of the book, we see how Halley reached his conclusions, and we learn along with him why there is more to the story than he at first realized.

Come to Grief has several elements that suggest Francis may have planned to continue the series with some new twists and some new continuing characters, but he has passed on sadly, and is no longer able to do so. (I sincerely hope it's not because the main character had a prosthetic arm, but who knows?)

4 stars. Highly recommended. show less

This book brings the return of narrator Sid Halley (Odds Against; Whip Hand) as the one-handed PI and ex-jockey takes on a case of multiple mutilations of thoroughbreds; unnervingly, the amputation of the animals' front left hooves mirrors Sid's own injury. The investigator soon realizes that the man behind the crimes is his old friend Ellis Quint, ex-gentleman jockey and now a beloved TV host. Sick at heart, Sid builds a strong case; but, when Quint is charged, British law bars any public discussion of the case, rendering Sid mute at the huge public backlash against him. Particularly vicious and unrelenting is The Pump, a garish tabloid. When another mutilation occurs and Ellis has a seemingly unbreakable alibi, Sid finds some odd show more connections between a business tycoon, The Pump's noble owner and Ellis. Finally, the honourable, brave and thoroughly decent Sid faces his worst nightmare - the loss of his good hand - while doing what he must. show less

[Come to Grief], [[Dick Francis]]
I haven’t reread this title often because I don’t like the idea of someone cutting through the fetlock of a young colt to hear the ‘scrunch’ and feel the power. But the book is really about friendship and the loss of it, the fatal illness of a child, the disbelief of the public that their hero could do this terrible, horrible act. It is about the many faces of grief, for the living and the dead, human and horse.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Sid Halley, ex-jockey turned detective, returns in a new book. Someone is cutting of the off-hand leg of yearlings, just below the fetlock joint. When the person injures the horse of a terminally ill child, it becomes more personal. A few clues point to a famous jockey, loved by many, friend to Halley, and who wasn't present, the mystery deepens and the the political cost to Sid is high.

An English jockey, who retired after losing a hand, works investigating crimes, often related to the horse racing business. He investigates the cruel incidences of horses having a hoof amputated and discovers they are linked to a close friend. The story follows the trail and comes to a sad finale without justice actually being served.

This mystery held up pretty well as a reread although I did remember who was maiming the horses. However it had been long enough since i read Come to Grief previously that the why and the details were like reading a new book. Sid Halley is the investigator and while he isn't my favorite Francis hero this is, for me, the best of the books featuring him. The novel begins with the upcoming trial of Ellis Quint and the suicide of Quint's mother. We learn from Halley how he came to believe in Quint's guilt and then we begin to learn along with Sid just what else is going on behind the scenes. Overall, the story follows the standard Francis plot so his fans will enjoy the book, especially those who have read Whip Hand and Odds Against.