![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/41FOnSBj%2B0L._BO2%2C204%2C203%2C200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click%2CTopRight%2C35%2C-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg?w=474\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reviewing a Dick Francis book <\/strong>is almost a pointless exercise. I\u2019ve only read one book of his that actually disappointed me, and you can be sure that the writing will always be professional and satisfying. But I\u2019ve had a couple criticisms of his attitudes now and then, and Hot Money<\/a><\/i> calls for one such, so I guess that justifies a critique.<\/p>\n It\u2019s always interesting to discover by what angle Francis will approach his always racing-related plots. This time around the unique element is complicated family relationships, what psychologists call \u201cconstellations,\u201d where parents and children fall into predictable roles, into which they tend to relapse whenever they get together.<\/p>\n In Hot Money<\/i> the constellation is more of a supernova. Multimillionaire gold trader Malcolm Pembroke has been married five times, and has sired a number of children, most of whom resent each other and their siblings\u2019 other mothers. One thing most of them agree on is their hated for Ian, the narrator of this book, whom their father seems to prefer. They\u2019re all certain he\u2019s plotting to cut them him out.<\/p>\n But when Malcolm\u2019s latest wife is murdered, and a couple attempts are made on his own life, he goes to Ian and asks him to become his live-in bodyguard. Ian agrees, and commences picking through the minefield of his family\u2019s loves and hates in order to stop a killer and save both their lives.<\/p>\n The large number of characters in this book make it sometimes hard to follow (make sure to bookmark the character list). That also goes for the superfluity of murder motives \u2013 everybody has one, but none of them seem adequate to murder. Sometimes I found the sheer volume of \u201csoft\u201d data kind of overwhelming.<\/p>\n And again, as I\u2019ve seen at least once before in Francis, there\u2019s a tolerant attitude to adultery that displeased me. On the other hand, there wasn\u2019t any explicit sex, and the language wasn\u2019t bad.<\/p>\n Not top drawer Francis, but good. Reviewing a Dick Francis book is almost a pointless exercise. I\u2019ve only read one book of his that actually disappointed me, and you can be sure that the writing will always be professional and satisfying. But I\u2019ve had a couple criticisms of his attitudes now and then, and Hot Money calls for one such, so … Continue reading Hot Money, by Dick Francis<\/span>
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"