Hands Down is the 6th mystery featuring Sid Halley, written by Felix Francis around characters originated by his late father, Dick Francis. Released 8th Nov 2022 by Crooked Lane Books, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out from the same publisher in second quarter 2023.

There are only a handful of series, however well written, which keep me coming back for more year after year. The Dick Francis books are wonderful, highly consistent and satisfying reads. They're well constructed mysteries with a touch of humour, and they can generally be picked up and read in any order, as standalones. After the death of the elder Francis, his protege and youngest son Felix took over primary writing duties and continued the legacy with respectable verisimilitude.

I did feel this entry in the series was maybe a trifle more scattered and difficult to follow than most of the others. There were several disparate plot threads and they crossed and intertwined and were sometimes difficult to keep track of.

The language is relatively clean with the occasional 'damn / bloody' or similar' but nothing worse. These books are always worthwhile and a treat to be savored. Spelling and vernacular are UK English, but shouldn't pose any problems in context for readers from North America.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Sid is an ex jockey/private investigator with an arm transplant and a passion for keeping racing clean. He sets out to solve a crime involving jockeys and their agents which could cost him his life.
I am partial to crime novels involving horses and|or racing so this ticks all my boxes in that regard. Also it made think of the pros and cons of any sort of transplant.
Good read for Dick Francis fans and great to see his style lives on with Felix.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free digital copy of the book in return for an honest review.

What a pleasure to find a comfy spot, tell the world to go away for awhile and settle down with the new mystery featuring Sid Halley. No matter if you are a long time fan or if this is your introduction, you are in for a great read. With enough backstory to fill in the blanks and enough twists and turns to keep you saying "just one more chapter", I was in Sid Halley's world and enjoying every page.
Sid no longer has a prosthetic having had a successful hand transplant. Life should be looking good but things start to sour when his wife decides to go home to be with her mother when she finds out that her father is dying. She takes their nine year old daughter with her and Sid fears she will make it permanent. With this occupying his thoughts he isn't in a hurry to become involved with any investigation but the person making the plea is an old racing friend and Sid says yes. What follows is a complex, well-crafted puzzle. Corruption in the racing world isn't new but this scheme to rig races makes for a good story. I'll say no more for fear of spoilers.
Besides spending time with Sid, Chico is back, too, acting as his bodyguard and so is his ex-father-in-law Charles. Put it all together and I came away with less stress than I had when I started the first sentence.
My thanks to the publisher Crooked Lane and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

After the more memoir-like novel Iced, Hands Down is a return to the familiar style of Felix Francis mysteries, and its features Dick Francis’s recurring protagonist Sid Halley. Where he once had a prosthetic, ex-jockey Sid now has a new hand, thanks to a transplant. This takes some getting used to both physically and emotionally, and to complicate matters Sid’s wife isn’t happy in their marriage and has left to be with her ailing father. When a terrified horse-trainer friend asks for his help, Sid initially puts him off, but when matters escalate, he can’t resist the urge to investigate. What follows is a story in the time-honored Francis tradition, giving us both an investigation and expert insight into details of various horse-racing-related topics. There’s drama, danger, and—for longtime fans—nostalgia at seeing Sid Halley back in action.

Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for a digital advance review copy.

Don't worry if you, like me have forgotten the details of Sid Halley's life and, notably, how he lost his hand because yes, it has been a while and more importantly, Francis does a good job of catching you up, making this both a good addition to the series and a fine standalone. I've not read another novel, where the intrepid investigator has had a hand transplant so I'll note I learned a few things about that along the path to a solution to what happened to Sid's friend Gary. Sid can't help himself- he's supposed to be out of the investigations game, his wife Marina has left him, taking their child with her, and he's alone with the dog when Gary asks for help. And then he dies and Sid doesn't agree that it's suicide. It's an interesting look at corruption in the horse racing industry. Sid's pal Chico and his father in law Charles make for good foils. This has good twists, a few turns and a nice surprise or two along the way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Things should be good for Sid Halley. He's gotten a hand transplant and his new left hand is almost fully functional. He's given up investigating for investing which should eliminate most of the danger in his life. And he's married to his beloved Marina and has a nine-year-old daughter named Saskia who is the center of his existence.

But when Marina expresses discontent in their marriage and takes Saskia to visit her parents because her father is dying, Sid wonders if she'll ever come back. And then he gets a phone call from a man he used to race with who is now a trainer asking for help. Sid's reluctant to get involved since he's so focused on the state of his marriage.

But when he learns that his friend's stables have burned down and he's presumed dead, Sid feels he has no choice but to get involved. Sid meets the friend who is hiding out for fear of villains, but the fear keeps him from telling Sid the whole story. And the villains catch up, murdering the friend and staging it as a suicide.

Sid begins to investigate this new threat to the sport he loves. Someone is finding a way to rig horse races for their own financial gain and are blackmailing both jockeys and trainers to further their plot. Sid calls in old friend Chico Barnes to act as his backup and bodyguard. His former father-in-law Charles also has a role to play both as reluctant caretaker for Sid's dog and sounding board for Sid's thoughts.

While I felt that the story started slowly and presented a more introspective Sid than that of earlier stories, the pace did pick up and engaged me in Sid's adventures. Nearing fifty and having much more to lose made Sid a more careful investigator but still a very persistent and intelligent one.

Ex-jockey turned private investigator Sidney Halley is dealing with a lot. He is adjusting to having a transplanted hand and his wife Marina has taken his daughter Saskia and left him to go to Netherlands to be with her father while he is dying. So it is understandable that when Gary Bremner, another ex-jockey now turned trainer, calls him to ask for help because he is being threatened, Sid tells him he can't meet right then. The next day, the trainer's stables are burned to the ground and then the trainer is found hanged, presumably by suicide. Sid gets involved in investigating the incident and dives deep into the underbelly of the racing world. This was an interesting mystery set in a world I have no great familiarity with, so I appreciate learning a little about the British racing world. I also felt the author did a great job fleshing out the main character and his struggles.

Jockey-turned-private eye Sid Halley was last seen in Refusal after losing his left hand in a nasty fight with even nastier opponents; for his troubles, he ended up with a prosthetic hand and a wife who who insisted that he quit his detecting work. Now he's back - decked out with a new but real hand courtesy of a donor that, with the help of anti-rejection drugs, is working better every day. His marriage, on the other hand (pun intended), isn't working quite so well; in fact, his wife Marina has taken their nine-year-old daughter, Saskia, with her to stay with her elderly parents - in part because her father is dying and in part because she needs to get away for a while.

As he's stewing over how to handle the situation, an ex-jockey friend calls to ask for help with a serious issue involving racing. With his mind elsewhere, Sid poo-poos the situation and puts the guy on hold at least for a couple of days. As it turns out, he should have been more fired up; the next day, the guy's stable and a few horses go up in flames - and then, not long after he meets with Sid to explain what's going on, the man himself is found hanged. The police deem it death by suicide, but given what Sid knows, he's not so sure.

At that point - with no resolution of the situation between he and his wife - Sid sets off to investigate what appears to be corruption at the track that involves "dirty" agents, blackmail and race fixing. Needless to say, that takes Sid to a couple of racetracks he once frequented as a jockey and pits him against several heavyweight nasties who would love nothing more than to get rid of him for good. The details, of course, I can't reveal - nor whether he wins back the two loves of his life. Suffice it to say the story held me captive for a few good hours - well written with plenty of action. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy - and keep me in mind when the next one drops. Try it - I think you'll like it too!

HANDS DOWN by Felix Francis is another mystery story set in the world of British horse racing and featuring the character, Sid Halley, who was first introduced in Odds Against by Dick Francis. He subsequently wrote several books about Sid Halley, including the award winning Whip Hand. And his son, Felix, eventually reprised the character in Refusal. Halley is a former jockey with numerous contacts in the racing world. In the latest mystery, he returns to sleuthing when another former jockey turned trainer is found dead. Halley suspects murder and makes multiple trips to racecourses and stables to investigate motive and opportunity. Along the way, he uncovers an extortion and blackmail scheme that appears to be impacting race outcomes. There's a delicate balance with the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), the betting public, and future racing careers of young jockeys who idolized Sid Halley's championship form. In addition, Sid is struggling in his personal life as his second wife, Marina, takes their 9 year old daughter to The Netherlands. He is also adjusting to life with two hands, having been given a transplant just a few years ago. There is plenty of suspense and danger as well as a real sense of community. Readers will warmly welcome the return of Sid Halley and Francis’ writing style which artfully weaves in details about British history, horseracing, and even the COVID pandemic. HANDS DOWN received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

suspense, thriller, horse-racing, divorce, private-investigators, murder, murder-investigation, arson, law-enforcement, conspiracy, England, mystery*****

Sid is back and with a new transplanted hand! We wish! Hey Jan of the microsurgery transplant team, this one's for you!
The publisher's blurb is a pretty good hook and the story kept my (figurative) nose in the story until I fell asleep in the chair, woke up and continued. Another winner!
I requested and received an advance reader e-book copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I was entertained and enthralled, and I was so happy to have Sid H back. The horse racing plot, the twists and turns, was pure classic Dick Francis and wonderful. Top of the game….

Sid Halley is back. In this sixth book featuring ex steeplechase jockey and racing investigator Sid Halley, first brought to the page by Dick Francis in 1965, Sid has a new transplanted left hand and a troubled marriage. The book had an engaging sounding plot but it just fell flat for me. The story line should have packed some intrigue but a lot of pages were devoted to Sid's marital woes and I don’t know, it was just boring. I have enjoyed the writing of Felix Francis who co wrote several books with his father and became the primary writer upon Dick's death. This one just didn’t hold my interest.

This had a decent plot and a number of interesting characters but unfortunately they failed to gel into a good read, somehow I was completely disengaged and quite honestly it was boring. Other than the occasional flash the old Dick Francis/Sid Halley magic was missing.

I always enjoy the Dick Francis/Felix Francis stories, especially with legacy characters like Sid. This one was a bit less engaging for me...not sure why. Putting Marina and Saskia in Holland seemed like a plot device to allow Sid to investigate a crime in which he had no stake, while keeping them out of danger. I think an editor could have pushed this story into a realm with more compelling stakes.

I enjoyed this book. It’s really well written. It keeps your attention throughout the story. It’s not a fast read but well worth reading. #HandsDown #NetGalley