No Reserve by Felix Francis: packed full of suspense and mystery – book review –

Master of the racing blockbuster Felix Francis is back in the saddle and ready to take us over bumpy ground in this hard-hitting new crime mystery which explores the vast amounts of money that change hands in the sale rings where cash is staked on untested, unridden and as-yet-unnamed yearling colts in the hope they will turn out to be world beaters.

It was after the death of his father, the legendary jockey and thriller writer Dick Francis, in 2010, that Francis Junior, who trained as a physicist and taught A-level physics for 17 years, took up the mantle of solo novel writing and has been on a winning run ever since.

And this new horse racing-based murder mystery – set in the rarefied field of thoroughbred auctions – dishes up some serious skulduggery and heart-stopping danger as our novice auctioneer finds the going tough and the risks more dangerous than he could ever have imagined.

Theo Jennings, a young auctioneer at the Thoroughbred sales ring in Newmarket, has been climbing the ladder at a bloodstock sales company for the past three years. The October yearling sales are where the big money exchanges hands in frenzied auctions... millions of guineas paid for horses that are as yet unnamed, untested, and have never taken a step on the track.

It’s the greatest gamble in all of horse racing, and one that can end in ruin but Theo is planning on making his first ever multi-million sale with a yearling colt. But just as he makes the biggest sale of his life, he overhears a hushed conversation between the two bidders... can they really have colluded to fix the price of his big sale?

When that same colt is found dead the next morning, Theo is suspicious that foul play was involved and feels he has no choice but to investigate, even though he is going directly against the wishes of his boss.

As Theo begins to probe the death, he finds that answers aren’t coming readily from those who he questions and the more he uncovers, the less he can trust the people around him. And when a body is discovered in the same stable a few days later, all fingers point to him.

As Theo’s world turns upside down, he decides to crack on with his investigation. The only way to clear his name is to find the real murderer, but it isn’t just the police who have their eye on him... the killer has a target on Theo’s back. The higher the stakes, the greater the risk...

There is a tangible air of menace to Francis’s new thriller which hits the ground running, comes packed full of suspense and mystery, and is littered with the Francis family’s trademark nuggets of fascinating insider facts on the intriguing world of horse racing.

With surprises at every turn that are sure to please crime fans, a story full of good old-fashioned detective work, and lots of fast-paced action as we gallop through to the drama of the finishing line, No Reserve is Francis on his finest form.

(Zaffre, paperback, £9.99)