Dick Francis's Bloodline

by Felix Francis

Hardcover, 2012

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Mystery FrancisF

Genres

Mystery

All Topics

Fiction

Collections

Your library, Read, ebooks

Publication

New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2012.

Description

When race caller and television presenter Mark Shillingford calls a race in which his twin sister, Clare, an accomplished and successful jockey, comes in second when she could have won, he believes the worst: that she lost on purpose, and the race was fixed. That night, Mark confronts Clare with his suspicions, she storms off after an argument--and it's the last time Mark sees her alive. Hours later, Clare jumps to her death from the balcony of a London hotel; or so it seems. Devastated and guilty over her death, Mark goes in search of answers. What had led Clare to take her own life? Or was it not suicide at all?

User reviews

LibraryThing member phoenixcomet

Well written and engaging, Felix Francis follows in his father's footsteps of crafting enticing mystery novels set in the horse racing scene. In this case, Claire and Mark Shillingford are twins - Mark is a race caller and Claire a jockey. When Mark realizes his sister is race fixing, he confronts

her. Within hours, she commits suicide and Mark is devastated. But things don't seem to add up and he pursues what he knows until the truth is told.

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LibraryThing member hailelib

The LOC title is Dick Francis's Bloodline with his son Felix as the author. Continuing writing mysteries in more or less his father's style, Felix Francis did entertain me with this novel. Mark Shillingford works around racetracks as a race caller and TV presenter. At the beginning of the book,

Mark is calling a race where his twin sister, a jockey, loses when he is convinced she should have won. Soon after confronting Clare with his suspicions Mark is informed of her death and finds that the police believe it was suicide. He embarks on a mission to discover the truth about her death and stirs up all kinds of trouble.

I enjoyed this well enough but I would still recommended some of Dick Francis' best mysteries as the place to start. Among my personal favorites are Enquiry and High Stakes.

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LibraryThing member infjsarah

This is an OK thriller. But Dick Francis's early books are much better. An easy read though.

LibraryThing member tjsjohanna

All the classic elements in a Dick Francis novel are here: the horse racing setting, the quiet but smart male who is pushed to his limits and discovers hidden talents and strengths. In this story Mr. Francis takes us inside the announcer's booth for a look at that side of the racing world, and the

ending took me by surprise.

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LibraryThing member kmartin802

BLOODLINE was another engaging mystery by Felix Francis who is continuing his father's legacy for heart-pounding mysteries. Mark Shillingford is a race caller and television presenter. His twin sister is a champion flat racing jockey. When she, seemingly, commits suicide, Mark needs to know why.

Investigating will lead him into danger and bring out strengths he didn't know he had.

Mark and Clare are the youngest of their family and have a contentious relationship with their father. Neither of them chose to follow his path to university and a city career. Both wanted to be jockeys but Mark grew to be too big and too heavy. He drifted into race calling and television reporting and has been a great success. He is not an argumentative person and is rather indecisive. He presents the picture of being very laid back. He drifted into a relationship with a married woman and, although he is 31, he still lives in the apartment he and Clare moved to when they left home at seventeen.

His sister's death galvanized him and his investigation leads to discoveries of race fixing, blackmail and murder. Along the way his is strangled near to death and the near victim of a hit-and-run but neither cause him to back off in his investigation.

I really like Mark as a main character. His determination to find out what really happened to his sister Clare changes him and his family. I liked his dogged persistence as he unraveled the mysteries surrounding his sister.

I also really like that all of these mysteries shed light on some field of endeavor. It was interesting to find out all about the ins and outs of doing live television coverage of horse racing.

Fans of mysteries can't do wrong with Dick or Felix Francis.

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LibraryThing member BDartnall

Another good romp with the British racing world, and Dick Francis' son seems to have the same knack as dad for keeping it real- and providing just enough helpful details about the racing world for the uninformed reader, without dragging down the pace. While I didn't admire this particular

protagonist as much as some of Dick Francis' most memorable heroes, he was still a sympathetic character who manages to solve the mystery and save his own life in the end!

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LibraryThing member MikeRhode

Enjoyable, although the main character in this one is not very engaging. A quick read.

LibraryThing member skraft001

Not the best effort. While still an enjoyable read for the most part it dragged in a number of places. Some very contrived scenes and the ending scene when Mark confronts the murderer was terribly cliche. Not up to the standards of the Francis name.

LibraryThing member themulhern

Description of race announcing quite interesting, plot, distressingly stupid.

LibraryThing member 400mom

Felix Francis has continued his father's formula of writing a mystery which teaches readers something about horse racing and about another profession. This is one of my favorite things about these books. The main character didn't seem to have as much emotional depth, as though the words and the

character didn't quite mesh, but it was still an interesting story. It has been a while since I read a book in one day but this one kept me entertained and enlightened.

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LibraryThing member stephanie_M

Dick Francis' son Felix is really shaping up to be a wonderful author, just like his dad. His style is even somewhat reminiscent of his father. I enjoyed every bit of this novel, and I fully expect to read any more in the future, when they come out.

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

Well. Very good mystery - at one point, I was puzzled, thinking that I wasn't recognizing the story but I must have read this before because I've read all of Dick Francis' books...took me a minute to remember this is by Felix. He really caught his father's style in this one. Including all the

technical details of another odd occupation - race commentating, here - and another style of dysfunctional family. Oh, and one more thing - a title that really doesn't relate very well to the story (I doubt I'll be able to remember what story goes with this title, in a month or so). I like Mark, and it's a real shame about the deaths - such a waste (well, some of them). And with all that said - I really wasn't in the mood for this, it's a bit too dark and sad for me right now. I had to push myself to finish it - glad I did though, at least it comes to a solid conclusion.

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