Banker Dick Francis

Mild-mannered, thirty-something merchant banker (that would be an investment banker to us Yanks), Tim Ekaterin, a junior in the bank that carries his family name is instrumental in negotiating the loan of five million pounds for the purchase of Sandcastle, the horse of the year, to stand at stud. We also have a horse-whisperer/healer and the miscellaneous people surrounding the stud, the bank, and the "clinic." Lots of characters, but not overwhelming.

Tim is hopelessly in love with his boss's wife, and she with him, but both are too honorable to follow through. Francis does tend to handle romance with a very light touch. It seemed early in the series that he was going to make a thing of his heroes and very much younger girls, but he reverses that here. The boss's wife is several years older than Tim - and the most interesting woman character is friend of the wife's who is probably another ten years older still. Pen, short for Penelope, is a pharmacist with a very perceptive way of seeing what is around her; she and Tim become good friends as well. Her profession is also critical to the solution of the mystery. There is a young girl, the daughter of the stud owner; Tim and Ginnie become very close, but theirs is definitely not a romantic relationship at all.

There are a couple of story lines that could have been further developed. There was Tim's fellow junior at the bank who was deeply offended by Tim's advancement and worked to undercut him by, in part, informing customers that Tim had only been promoted because of his name and family connections; and another who made a practice of leaking information to the banking scandal rag. Either one could have made a story in its own right, but they both rather took the position of things that didn't kill Tim outright, thus making him stronger - and enhanced his position in the eyes of the senior executives. Thereby showing Tim himself maturing through the course of the story.

I remember vaguely back when I first read this that I was ambivalent about the changes in Francis's style. Looking at the dates, it came out in paper the year we moved overseas; I was rather preoccupied with a great many things that year. At this reading, I am finding that I am enjoying these later books more than I expected to based on my earlier impressions. Maybe it is age making the difference or maybe I was just so busy that I simply don't remember them well.