Typical Dick Francis mystery with photography and horse racing supplying the background.

A Philip Nore adventure by Dick Francis.

Photographer George Millace dies in a car accident and his son, Steve Millace, announces to his fellow jockeys that his mother's house had been burgled while they were at the funeral. He mentions that his dad's darkroom has been stripped and all his photographs stolen. After the days races Philip Nore, jockey and amateur photographer, gives Steve a lift home. They arrive at Steve's home to find the police there and learn that Steve's mom has been attacked. It becomes obvious that the burglars and the attackers are the same people and that they appear to be searching for a specific photograph or photographs.

Philip Nore gets involved but must soon be wishing he did not. He takes possession of the few photographs of George's that still remain although Steve is certain they come from his dad's rubbish box. It soon becomes clear that the attackers still haven't found what they are looking for and Philip is subjected to a variety of attacks. George appears to have been involved in blackmail. In addition the story includes arson and a clever murder attempt.

During the story quite a few of the characters appear to be suspect. The true identity of the criminal only being revealed at the end. I found some of the technical descriptions tedious and skipped parts of it. With Dick Francis having been a jockey himself one cannot help wondering whether the cheating that happens throughout the story is based on real-life experiences, a disturbing thought for punters or potential punters.

Overall an enjoyable read but I will admit to not being a Dick Francis fan so my 7/10 rating for it may be biased.