The Edge

Dick Francis can always be relied upon to produce a well-plotted, well-characterised, mystery novel. If his books are unchallenging, then they are also consistently high in quality, and perfect for a quick, pleasant read.

In 'The Edge,' young Tor Kelsey, orphaned at a young age and raised by a horse-mad aunt, grows up around race courses. Coming into a large inheritance, but entirely uninterested in money, he wanders around the world for a few years before his lawyer recommends him to the English Jockey Club. As someone familiar with the racing world, but largely unrecognisable to the people in it, he's their 'secret weapon'. Blessed with a mostly generic face, he wanders around race courses, listening to conversations and taking show more discreet photos that allow him to gather evidence of cheating, bribery and other misbehaviour.

The biggest challenge the Club currently faces is Julius Apollo Filmer, a wealthy, mysterious man who succeeds in leveraging influence, buying promising horses, and finagling deals in suspicious ways. Unable to find actual evidence of his wrongdoing, the Club sends Tor to spy on Filmer on a railway trip that Filmer and other wealthy horse racers are taking, across Canada. Although Tor is originally supposed to be playing the role of a wealthy traveller, he ultimately joins as a waiter, working on the train and reporting back to the Jockey Club and their Canadian counterparts.

As with most Francis novels, there is a lovely woman (in this case, also working on the train) with a gentle, understated romance and a quiet, pleasant humour, and the mystery culminates in a little bit of a punch-up. One of the most interesting parts about the book, written in 1988, is the management of technology. Tor maintains contact with his handlers by calling one of their mothers: an elderly bed-bound woman with a passion for puzzles, and a phone on the bedside table, as she can be relied on to answer at any time. I do enjoy how well Francis draws these little characters, as well as his ability to recreate basically the same mystery in a variety of settings - this time, well placed on a train in Canada's countryside. If I have a complaint, it is that the end seems a bit abrupt, but I'm really not going to carp about it. A fun read. show less

In a recent court case against English racing identity Julius Filmer for conspiracy to murder all the prosecution witnesses mysteriously disappeared or ‘forgot’ their evidence and he was acquitted. When he gets himself on board the The Great Transcontinental Mystery Race Train which will take a week to cross Canada from Toronto to Vancouver full of international race horse owners and their horses people in authority are worried about what he plans. They ask Tor Kelsey, who works for the British Jockey Club’s security services to go on the train undercover to prevent Filmer from doing anything to disrupt the train or the events planned in towns across the country.

This is a re-read for me as I bought a bunch of Dick Francis audio show more books on sale recently and happily it is as good as I remember. What I like most about it is the really thoughtful characterisations. Tor Kelsey, who is independently wealthy but works anyway ‘to avoid the temptation of being able to have every sweet in the sweet shop’ is a typical Francis protagonist: intelligent, self-reliant, morally sound without being self-righteous and also has a sense of humour. It’s easy to dismiss this kind of character as unrealistic but apart from liking to think there are good people in the world I was struck by the credibility of Tor’s thoughts and actions all the way along. At one point in the story for example things are set up for two trains to crash and when Tor, given the task of stopping one of the trains before it rams the other, believes he has failed his emotional response is very real indeed. He not only worries about the possible injuries and damage but can also see into his own future and predict how terrible it will be to have to live with his failure every day. That combination of self-interest and concern for others felt very realistic to me.

Among the passengers on the train is the Lorimer family who are very wealthy and well-known but are happy to ‘do their bit for the good of Canadian racing’. Mercer, his wife Bambi and their two teenage children appear to have it all but as the story progresses the pain that the family is experiencing is teased out in a very touching way. The character of Filmer in some ways is very under-developed because we actually don’t see much of him until the end but it seems to me that he is explored via his impact on those around him as he sets out to exploit people’s fears over the possibility of having their personal secrets revealed.

As always with a Dick Francis novel there is lots of great detail about his chosen subjects, this time train trivia features prominently as do wonderful descriptions of Canada that made me want to get my passport out immediately. The plot is, of course, resolved very satisfactorily though there is some sadness too and overall I think this is one of Francis’ best yarns. show less

Tor Kelsey works as an investigator for the Jockey Club. He was raised around horses, left England for about seven years, had his trust funds come due, and was looking for meaningful work. His former trustee introduced him to the head of the Investigations Department who offered him a job. He has been working more or less undercover for three years.

Julius Apollo Filmer was one of the men he watched. He has found some way to blackmail owners into selling him or giving him their best horses. All of the owners are too frightened to tell the Jockey Club what he's been doing. Before a young groom could confess all, his body was found in a ditch. Filmer was brought to trial but was acquitted.

Now, Filmer has decided to take part in a show more Canadian venture that puts a number of horses, owners, grooms, and racegoers on a train that will be traveling across Canada and stopping at various racetracks along the way. Tor has been given a place on the train to keep an eye on Filmer who doubtless has some dastardly plan in place though no one knows what it is. The train is also hosting a bunch of actors who are doing a murder mystery along the journey.

Tor assumes the role of one of the waiters on the train reasoning that no one will look past the uniform. Anonymity has been his friend in his new job, and he doesn't want to lose it. The only ones in country who know his secret identity are the young woman who is organizing the tour, and she only knows part of the truth, and the head of the Investigations department of the Canadian Jockey club.

This was an engaging mystery filled with lots of action and adventure. Tor was a great character who job means that he is lonely most of the time. He's bright, he's dedicated, and he's very observant. show less

An undercover agent of the Jockey Club travels to Canada to follow a suspect aboard a transcontinental race train.
This was not as edge of my seat thrilling as I am used to from Dick Francis, but it was still good reading and an exciting story.

The Edge doesn't have as much action along the tracks and courses as many of the books Francis writes. Most of it isn't set in England, but in Canada on a special racing excursion train that is also a train running one of the mystery adventures with actors. I found it interesting to see behind the scenes for both the train crew (mostly the wait staff) and the actors. And of course there is a real-life mystery -- just what foul deed is rich sociopath Filmer planning. Can our hero Tor Kelsey thwart that plan? I read the book quickly as I wanted to know the answers.

In some ways, the theme in this book is summed up in this quotation: What made one man good, I wondered, and another man bad: one man to seek to build, the other to frighten and show more destroy. The acid irony was that the bad might feel more satisfied and fulfilled than the good.

If you like mysteries that have horse racing as an integral part of the story, Dick Francis should be right up your avenue. If you also like mysteries that take place on trains, then The Edge should be your cup of tea. show less

A high-class, transcontinental horse-racing junket should be an idyllic getaway for the super-rich.
But one passenger on this train is a sociopath, a genius at blackmail and criminal corruption--and he plans to take everyone for everything they've got.

I am starting to like Dick Francis as a writer. This is my third book and I will read many more.

To be honest, I chose this book because of the cover. I come from a railway family and a story about a mystery where travel across Canada on the "Canadian" was too much to resist. Actually it was on a train similar to the Canadian except it was a private train for horse owners. I recognized the CPR diesel on the front cover and when I saw that there was to be a race at Assiniboia Downs in my home town of Winnipeg... I had to read it.

Actually the book as far as description of the journey was reasonably accurate. He did not go into great detail of the places but added just enough snippets to make it real to me. Also life on a Via Train was well show more done.

As a mystery goes, it was confusing to me as to what the reason was for the shadowing of the main bad guy. You don't find out until the last 1/4 of the book and that is the reason for the lower rating. I do like his character development though the constant "eh" in the language of the conductor was a bit over the top. I am Canadian and while it is commonly part of our language... it is not in every second sentence :)

Overall it was a decent read. show less