Come to Grief [Mass Market Paperback]

Dick Francis (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Pan (1996)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000S6RYSC
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,978,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ex-jockey turned PI Sid Halley bravely faces demons & ghosts, October 13, 1997

By 

JB LeBout "ding dong lady" (Central Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Come to Grief (Paperback)

Francis addicts will cheer on "friend" Sid Halley as he faces old ghosts (first wife), old demons (as in WHIP HAND), and new demons (his friend & that of a little girl's fatal disease). The best part of any Dick Francis book are his characters. You always LIKE them. The action keeps you turning the pages, but the characters have you on their side cheering for them. COME TO GRIEF is no different. There are mixed feelings at the end of every Dick Francis book: good, the character is OK; and nuts, now the character is gone away because the book is finished. It has been nice to welcome back Sid Halley for the third time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sophisticated Thriller, August 24, 2009

By 

Miz Ellen "all the letters of my real name" (Bovine Universe) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Come to Grief (Paperback)

Dick Francis wrote only three books about Sid Halley, a former jockey turned investigator, and in each book, Sid and his views about his crippling injury change just a little.

In COME TO GRIEF, Francis tells us right up front who the villain is, a "least likely" suspect indeed. Ellis Quint is a former champion amateur jockey, a friend and rival to Sid in his halcyon days, and a man who has gone on to outstanding success as a TV commentator and talk show host. So why would such a man stoop to crippling ponies and racehorses by chopping off their feet?

It's a mesmerizing picture: Sid reluctantly investigating and Ellis going to the brink, both men sharing a nature that loves and craves risk. Francis points this up in the character of Jonathan, a bored almost-delinquent, who got into trouble with his friends for stealing a car. Jonathan at this point could go either way: full fledged criminal or hot-shot investigator.

As in all Dick Francis, there's such forward momentum to the plot that the book is hard to put down. Even though we know "who done it" it's not apparent that the criminal will ever be found guilty. I peg this as one of Francis's best.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Puzzling Book, September 4, 2001

By 

Martha E. Nelson (Watertown, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Come to Grief (Paperback)

I will admit going into this that I am more than halfway in love with Sid Halley. However, we would not be a good match, since I, like his ex-wife, would be aggravated because he wouldn't be reliable and be home on time for dinner.

Levity aside, I am predisposed to like and of Francis' books about Halley, and there are things I like here. I like Sid having a chance to develop relationships with some people and having a chance to genuinely love, as he does with the little girl with leukemia here. I also really want him to have a satisfying relationship, and he seems to be interested in that, although I don't think the love interest in this one is as pleansant or as good a prospect as in Whiphand.

However, as some other reviewers have noted, this seems to be a rather mean-spirited book. I don't understand why the handsome man who appears to have everything stoops to mutilating horses, and I don't understand what the fundamental message about human nature is here. I think Francis was really trying to say something profound here, but I can't get to it. I was left feeling like I missed something important, and it made me frustrated and sad.