This was one of the first Dick Francis books I read and remains my favorite to this day. It's fun to read and not completely fluffy. The photography tricks are succinctly but clearly explained and were part of the initial draw for me, but the satisfying plot and the sympathetic protagonist (Phillip Nore) are the reasons it stays at the top of my list.

It is interesting that what may have look fairly progressive in 1981, sill rings of sexism and homophobia in 2021. The best plotted of Francis's mysteries on this reread, and the last for awhile.

An entertaining and fast paced cozy mystery.

Philip Nore, our rather vanilla protagonist, stumbles upon a recently deceased, possibly murdered, photographer's box of cryptic photos. As Nore unravels the secrets contained in the box, his own family's sad secrets come to light.

I liked it, I did not love it. There was a lot of detailed descriptions about a Jockey's life and a photographer's tasks, neither of which I'm particularly interested in. I skipped whole paragraphs of Nore in his dark room. Both the romance plot and the lost sister plot seemed to have been tacked on as an afterthought, neither of which were developed properly.

I quite enjoyed the main murder mystery, a perfect brainless summer read.

This is definitely one of Francis's best but still I only felt I could give it four out of five. There wasn't much in the way political (or even 'a man should take risks'/'I'd die in an office') ideology presented so that was nice but there is a fair spattering of his usual overly paternal views of women, and this is part of the 4 stars vs 5.

The relationship stuff is a bit oddly handled and feels somewhat tacked on to what is a very cleverly layered mystery, but there are some bits that just seem too pat in the way things fall out, and the final unravelling just seems almost like a pulled punch. Plus there are some aspects that feel ludicrously over the top. Still, the research is top-notch as ever, with there being a lot of technical parts to what goes on.

In amongst the usual Francis trope catalogue is the unusual situation where the Jockey Club is shown as good and worthwhile in spite of being run by self-selecting peers. I was quite amused to see this as so often they are dealt unfavourably by Francis.

Overall then, one of his really good ones but somehow quite reaching the big heights by simply not quite feeling satisfying by the conclusion.

What Kate Nepveu calls “competence porn”, people being good at complicated things in great detail. A fun mystery with a weird emotional journey.

I love this book! Horses, photography, and blackmail, what's not to like?
Seriously this is Dick Francis at his best. The narrator, Simon Prebble, was perfect for the character and the tone of the tale.

I listened using Chirpbooks.com

When I was in elementary and middle school, my mother volunteered reviewing audiobooks for an audiobook magazine so she was always listening to books on tape in the car. My favorites were the Dick Francis books. I loved horses, and I loved mysteries.

Still do. It’s good to see I still consider Francis a solid mystery writer. The protagonist, Phillip, is very likable, and Francis writes in a manner that is straightforward without being dry.