From a New York Times bestseller, “action, character, and color ride in perfect balance” in a thriller about a horse portraitist turned amateur sleuth (Kirkus Reviews).
 
Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing.
 
Charles Todd, a renowned painter of horses, is shocked when he turns up at his cousin Donald’s house for a weekend visit to find his cousin’s young wife dead on the floor and Donald the police’s prime suspect.
Determined to prove Donald’s innocence, Todd trails a series of clues from England to Australia to New Zealand, only to realise someone is trailing him. Someone with every intention of taking him out of the picture for good . . .
Praise for the writing of Dick Francis:
 
“Dick Francis is a wonder.” —The Plain Dealer
“Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at a full gallop.” —Chicago Tribune
“Few match Francis for dangerous flights of fancy and pure inventive menace.” —Boston Herald
“[The] master of crime fiction and equine thrills.” —Newsday
“[Francis] has the uncanny ability to turn out simply plotted yet charmingly addictive mysteries.” —The Wall Street Journal
“Francis is a genius.” —Los Angeles Times
“Nobody executes the whodunit formula better.” —Chicago Sun-Times
“A rare and magical talent . . . who never writes the same story twice.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune