Hot Money (A Dick Francis Novel)
Hot Money (A Dick Francis Novel) book cover

Hot Money (A Dick Francis Novel)

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$7.99
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G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date

Description

From AudioFile Ian Pembroke becomes the protector for his much-married, wealthy father, who lately has been menaced by some mysterious accidents. Ian's previous estrangement from his father and his large group of half-siblings and their greedy spouses both fuel the plot and generate mystery in this thriller. Reader Simon Prebble's soft, melodic voice enhances the likable personality of the narrator-hero, but other characters are differentiated only slightly. Unlike veteran Francis reader Tony Britton, who favors vocal versatility and drama, Prebble provides listeners with the familiarity and leisure of a good storyteller. Both methods emphasize different, legitimate aspects of the first-person Francis novels. G.H. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the cassette edition. From Library Journal Malcolm Pembroke has the Midas touch for making money. With wealth in excess of 100 million pounds and the ability to make investments that never go wrong, he should be happy. However, he has not been as successful in his personal life; married five times with eight children, his last wife, Moira, was murdered. And now someone is trying to kill him. When Malcolm convinces his son Ian to accompany him to Newmarket Sales, Ian finds out firsthand about the murderous atmosphere surrounding his father. As Ian investigates their family he finds motive and malice to spare, and soon he is also in the murderer!s sites. For nonstop action and edge-of-the-seat suspense, it!s hard to top Francis. Simon Prebble!s precise accent and ability to make each voice unique make this performance a winner. Highly recommended for all public libraries.?Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the cassette edition. From Publishers Weekly Francis has another winner, as skillfully constructed as his previous bestsellers. This time, amateur British jockey Ian Pembroke tells what happens after the murder of his father Malcolm's fifth wife, Moira. A rapacious, sharp-tongued woman, she has caused a break between Malcolm and Ian, who despised her for marrying his father solely to get her hands on his considerable fortune. But two attempts on the old man's life compel him to ask Ian for help. Although the trusted son isn't fond of his eight half-siblings or their motheror even of his ownhe's loath to suspect them of conspiring to kill Malcolm, which seems to be the case. To protect his father, Ian takes him to America and other countries, where the two attend the glamorous, big-purse horse racesscenes at which the author excelsbefore returning warily to England. The story gains momentum, with extended family members furious over Malcolm's spending spree and blaming Ian for wasting their inheritance. A real spellbinder, the mystery ends when the miscreant plays one trick too many. Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection; Literary Guild dual selection and Mystery Guild alternate. Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From the Inside Flap s, an ex-jockey, has a sense of pace that would be the envy of most of his former colleagues....He throws in a doozy of a bonus surprise."PEOPLEWealthy gold trader Malcolm Pembroke has five ex-wives and nine chidren between them, all fighting among themselves. But when violent death strikes the least likable of his former spouses, Malcolm himself feels threatened, and he calls on his most capable son, Ian, the family jockey, to protect him from his nearest and dearest. While he's at it, Ian is also commissioned to delve for the final, critical clue in the darkly buried Pembroke past, simmering with the greed, hate, and vengefulness that could motivate blood to strike against blood. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. A regular winner * Sunday Express * As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing * Daily Mirror * --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott. During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. CWA CARTIER DIAMOND DAGGER WINNER Malcolm Pembroke never expected to make a million pounds without making enemies. Nor did he expect his latest wife to be brutally murdered. All the clues suggest the killer comes from close to hiome - but after fice marriages and nine children, that still leaves the field wide open. When he finds his own life in danger, Pembroke entrusts his safety to his estranged son, Ian, an amateur jockey; and through him discovers a compulsive new outlet for his financial expertise. Soon he’s playing the international bloodstock market for incredible stakes. Not the safest bet for a man on the run from avaricious relatives. Particularly when one of them has got a bomb... ‘Dick Francis is on top form with this subtle satisfying entertainment that saves a macabre surprise for the end’ Evening Standard --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • "Francis, an ex-jockey, has a sense of pace that would be the envy of most of his former colleagues....He throws in a doozy of a bonus surprise."PEOPLEWealthy gold trader Malcolm Pembroke has five ex-wives and nine chidren between them, all fighting among themselves. But when violent death strikes the least likable of his former spouses, Malcolm himself feels threatened, and he calls on his most capable son, Ian, the family jockey, to protect him from his nearest and dearest. While he's at it, Ian is also commissioned to delve for the final, critical clue in the darkly buried Pembroke past, simmering with the greed, hate, and vengefulness that could motivate blood to strike against blood.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(1.6K)
★★★★
25%
(681)
★★★
15%
(409)
★★
7%
(191)
★
-7%
(-191)

Most Helpful Reviews

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“Entrenched belief is never altered by the facts.”

“Wait until tomorrow,” the trainer said cautiously, watching them.
“We’re taking on the best in the world, don’t forget. The hot money is for a California-bred horse.”
“What’s hot money?” Malcolm demanded.
“The bets made by people in the know. People with inside information.”

Now this phrase ‘Hot money’ serves as title. And like all Francis’ books, the title has several implications.

1 - In horse racing, the people with special knowledge or insight
2 - Malcom, Ian’s father, makes a fortune by buying and selling gold. His money always in motion - hot
3 - Malcolm’s millions produces greed, anger, jealousy in his fourteen children and spouses - they are ‘hot’.
4 - Ian Malcolm’s son, has special insight into family history. Police don’t. The ‘hot money’ is on Ian to find our villain.

This work somewhat off Francis’ usual road; real moral test, no deep threat, no frustrating puzzle. We’re traveling to philosophical, psychological vistas.

For example . . . Ian describes his father.

“His image stood sharp and clear in my mind: a stocky gray-haired man with bright blue eyes and a fizzing vitality that flowed from him in sparks of static electricity in cold weather. He was to my mind stubborn, opinionated, rash and often stupid. He was also financially canny, intuitive, quick-brained and courageous, and hadn’t been nicknamed Midas for nothing.
“Are you still there?” he demanded.
“Yes.”
“Well . . . I need your help.”
He said it as if it were an everyday requirement, but I couldn’t remember his asking anyone for help ever before, certainly not me.’’

This is a great psychological portrait (in just a few sentences!). Typical Francis. One of a kind.

Another sketch, his older sister.

“It was a more sisterly gesture and tone than I was used to, and I reflected with a shade of guilt that I’d paid scant attention to her own career for a couple of years.
“How is the poetry going?” I asked.
“What are you working on?”
The question caught her unprepared. Her face went momentarily blank and then filled with what seemed to be an odd mixture of sadness and panic.
“Nothing just now,” she said.
“Nothing for quite a while,” and I nodded almost apologetically as if I had intruded, and went into the weighing room and through to the changing room reflecting that poets, like mathematicians, mostly did their best work when young. Lucy wasn’t writing; had maybe stopped altogether. And perhaps, I thought, the frugality she had for so long embraced had begun to seem less worthy and less worth it, if she were losing the inner sustaining comfort of creative inspiration.’’

Several intriguing insights in these few lines - guilt, creativity, poverty, etc., all just casually (seemingly) thrown in. Marvelous!

Several philosophical points . . .

“I turned away from him in frustration. They were all illogical, I thought. They had almost begged me to use any influence I had with Malcolm to stop him spending and bail them out, and at the same time they believed I would ditch them to my own advantage. But then people had always been able to hold firmly to two contradictory ideas at the same time, as when once, in racing’s past, stewards, press and public alike had vilified one brilliant trainer as “most crooked,” and elected one great jockey as “most honest,” blindly and incredibly ignoring that it was the selfsame trusted jockey who for almost all of his career rode the brilliant trainer’s horses. I’d seen a cartoon once that summed it up neatly: “Entrenched belief is never altered by the facts.”

Now this reveals Francis’ focus in this book. What causes hatred? What’s the difference between greed and jealousy? How come we are so successful at self-deception?

And another . . .

“And I’ve seen, you know, how the present has grown out of that past. How my sisters-in-law and my brother-in-law have been affected by it. How people easily believe lies, old and new. How destructive it is to yearn for the unobtainable, to be unsatisfied by anything else. How obsessions don’t go away, they get worse.”

So much of this book contains detailed historical, psychological, philosophical analysis of the family, the suspects in the murder. In fact, I skipped some pages, which is the only time I remember doing with Francis’ books.

Nevertheless, still interesting, still worth reading.

Almost like Francis hoping to pass from superficial detective story to serious novel.
2 people found this helpful
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Possibly Francis's Best

This is one of the best if not THE best whodunit Dick Francis ever wrote. There are seven children (all grown), their spouses and three ex-wives any one of whom could be the murderer of their dad's most current wife. Ian, one of his sons must get to know
is half brothers and sisters to find out whodunit. What is remarkable is that the reader really has no problem keeping track of
all these people. They each have very distinctive personalities and . . . problems. A great read.
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Tedious

I usually quite enjoy Dick Francis's books, but I found Hot Money to be tedious in the extreme. There were too many possible suspects with all the many Pembrokes. Reading the review of the P.I.'s notes on their whereabouts for the times of the two attacks was like doing a homework review.
And they were all so pitiful and odious - Ian's patience with the lot was completely unbelievable and frustrating. My least favorite Francis by far.
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HOT MONEY Is a Rare Stumble from Dick Francis

At one time or another, I've read all of the novels written by Dick Francis, and I'm now working my way through them again in order and reviewing them here. I'm sorry to say that Hot Money did not work for me at all.

A Dick Francis novel usually follows a fairly definite pattern: The protagonist is a single male, almost always associated in some way or other with the world of horse racing. He's almost always single, although there may be a woman working her way into his life. He's usually quiet, but tough, smart and very resourceful. People almost always underestimate him. In most cases he's up against a tough, ruthless, vicious villain who almost always remains in the background until the end of the book. Usually, the protagonist will have to be severely tested, often through a gruesome physical ordeal, before he triumphs over his adversary and order is restored.

In this case, though, Francis departs from the formula and, to my mind, both the story and the reader suffer as a result. The protagonist is Ian Pembroke, an amateur jockey who somewhat resembles the usual Francis hero. He's the son of a very wealthy metals investor named Malcolm Pembroke. The elder Pembroke has been married five times and has produced nine children. All of them, save for Ian, appear to be severely maladjusted, as are the people to whom they are married.

Ian is unmarried and has no woman in his life, save for a married woman with whom he has an occasional tryst. There may be psychological issues involved here, but then it would seem that everyone in this novel could benefit from a few hours spent on the couch of a capable analyst. Ian and his father haven't spoken in three years. Ian made a critical comment about his father's latest wife and Malcolm punched him, breaking his nose and severing the relationship.

Now, someone has murdered the wife and is attempting to kill Malcolm, so Malcolm turns to Ian for help. (Naturally, his father has now realized that Ian was correct in his assessment of the woman's character.) For whatever reason, Ian still loves his father and is the only one of his children who is not grasping after the old man's money. He will spend the rest of the novel moving Malcolm around, trying to keep him out of harm's while he figures out who's attempting to kill him.

In this case though, it's no shadowy, malevolent figure. It seems clear from the beginning that the villain is someone in Malcolm's own family. Although he has settled trusts on all of his adult children, they are, for the most part, irresponsible, not very capable, greedy, grasping, ungrateful slobs, desperate for more money from their father. They all seem to hate Ian, believing for some inexplicable reason that he is their father's favorite and that he's attempting to cut them out of the will.

My problem with this book is that all of the characters seemed particularly unattractive and unappealing. Apart from Ian and Malcolm, I disliked all of them intensely and so really didn't care what happened to them. Ian was okay, but not nearly as appealing as most Francis protagonists. There was very little tension in the novel and very little suspense. Even though someone was apparently attempting to kill Malcolm and maybe even Ian, I was never really worried about them, and when the whole business was finally resolved I found the conclusion to be laughably absurd and unbelievable.

Anyone who writes as many books as Dick Francis did is bound to produce a clunker or two now and then and IMHO, that's the case here. That said, I realise that I am out of step with most of the other people who have reviewed this book here. I'm glad it worked for them, but a generous two and a half stars for me, rounded up, knowing that the next Dick Francis novel I read is bound to be better than this one.
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Another great Dick Francis

Such a fabulous compelling story teller. His characters are so well developed and interesting. This is about my 10th of his books. They are all wonderful mystery stories in their own unique style
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Best and most warm hearted Dick Francis

The characters are more numerous than usual but all distinct a stay in the mind. One of Francis’s best initial situations. Satisfying conclusion.
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Greatness...as always!

It is always such a pleasure to read his books! I think that I have read most of them, over the years, and they are always well-written, and the characters are perfect for their roles. This one was no exception.
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Murder mystery. Horse racing. Family tensions.

This is one of the older Dick Francis novels, copyright 1987. Those were the good ones that made him famous. I wish more of the old ones were available in Kindle.
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One of Francis's Best

"I intensely disliked my father's fifth wife, but not to the point of murder."

So begins "Hot Money," Francis's 1987 masterpiece of homicidal family drama. Malcolm Pembroke is a filthy-rich gold broker and serial husband with a string of wives and children surrounding him. When someone murders his latest wife by suffocating her in her own potting soil, he turns to his estranged son Ian for protection and help.

Ian, while interesting enough, is a fairly innocuous hero; the true focus of the novel are the poisonous relationships radiating out from Malcolm, who can't seem to stop stirring up drama between those closest to him. In order to solve the mystery, Ian has to go back to the resentments of childhood and study the psychologies of all his half-siblings, which is where a large part of the charm of the book comes in. In "Hot Money," Francis creates not so much a charismatic hero as a charismatic family, one you want to keep finding out more about--and one with a terrible secret to hide.

"Hot Money" was written right as Francis was entering into the height of his powers, and is superbly paced and plotted. There's nothing earth-shaking about it, exactly, but it holds up well to repeated reading, and is guaranteed to provide plenty of pleasure to Francis fans or anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
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Dysfunctional family

Typical Francis mystery centering around horse racing and in this case the diamond trade and a greedy highly dysfunctional family caused by the head of the family.

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