UNDER ORDERS

Dick Francis reacquaints listeners with champion-jockey-turned-sleuth Sid Halley, featured in earlier mysteries of the British racing circuit. The Cheltenham Gold Cup Race has more excitement than usual when a jockey is murdered. As Sid begins his sleuthing, one notices a change in tempo from the usual style of this author. Much of the change is due to the bravura reading of Martin Jarvis, who carves out the characters and gives each of them a special voice and an expansively operatic mood to surround the moment. His performance and timing are specifically aimed at the listener's entertainment as he reads the words of an older, gentler Dick Francis, whose Sid Halley is still just 38. J.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 06/ JAN 07]