Hot Money by Dick Francis

I loved this book. Talk about a crazy messed up bitter family. Somehow Francis kept it funny and awful at the same time so it wouldn't be too painful to read. This was a very enjoyable Dick Francis book to read and I never guessed who the baddie was.

With his five ex-wives and the nine children between them, it's no great surprise that spectacularly wealthy gold trader Malcolm Pembroke should preside over a motley clan in constant conflict with one another.

But when violent death strikes the least likable of his former spouses, Malcolm himself feels threatened, and he calls on his most capable son, Ian, the family jockey. Ian's task: to protect his father from their nearest, if not always dearest, relatives-and to delve for the final critical clue in the darkly buried Pembroke past, simmering with the greed, hate, and vengefulness that could motivate blood to strike against blood.

Reflex by Dick Francis

Yum, another Dick Francis book! I liked Reflex but it seemed somewhat disjointed in parts. Oh well. I was still happy with the book and had fun with it.

Philip Nore is no ordinary jockey. So naturally when Nore suspects that a tracks photographer's fatal accident is really murder, he sets out to discover the truth-and to trap the killer. But he may be in over his head. For as he slowly unravels some nasty secretes of corruption, blackmail, and murder, he unwittingly becomes the killer's next target...

Forfeit by Dick Francis

I found three books by Dick Francis in a second hand store that I hadn't read yet. Talk about happy! I love this author. Soon I will have almost every book he has written in my personal collection.

This book was fine though it left me feeling a little depressed. Not that the book ended badly. I think it was because of the relationship and circumstances of the main guy and his wife.

When reporter Bert Chechov falls to his death, his colleague James Tyrone is suspicious. Chechov's column had recently recommended some "can't-lose" horses-who then wound up out of the running on race day. Tyrone thinks he can prove it was murder, but he may not live to tell the tale. Because as the dead man has already made clear, there's no such thing as a sure thing...

B is for Burglar by Sue Grafton

When I was at the library I saw this list of books by Sue Grafton and though "why not". So I picked up the B is for Burglar (not sure why I didn't go for the first book in the series). I liked it. Very private eye detective written almost like an old black and white movie. Except it's a girl. I am going to start working through the alphabet series now. I am excited and I hope this is going to be another author I like.

Kinsey Millhone is a private detective. She has all sorts of twists and turns in this book as she investigates a missing women. Nothing is as it seems.

The Little Lady Agency in the Big Apple by Hester Browne

I read the first book in this series a year or so back. I liked the first book and gave it to my sister to read. I forget the authors name though and never got back to checking whether the next book in the series came out. My sister found the next book in the series (this one) and gave it to me to read. I liked this book and found it an enjoyable read. My sister liked the first book better. I don't really remember the first one so well any more so that doesn't help me.

I found Mellisa's boyfriend Jonathon EXTREMELY annoying. I couldn't stand him and was sad when she got back together with him in the end. I was rooting for her flat mate Nelson. But there is a third book in the series which I haven't read so there is always hope. Other than that complaint I found the different situations that came up in the book very entertaining.

With the Little Lady Agency doing a booming business back home, Melissa joins her dashing American boyfriend, Jonathan Riley, for an extended holiday in Manhattan. But she's soon out of her depth among Jonathon's hard-charging friends and his interfering ex-wife. And while she's all for shopping and sightseeing, a covert work opportunity is her irresistible temptation-a project that soon lands her in the tabloids! Now, a hilarious and heartbreaking chain of events may force Mellisa to choose between the man she loves and the unique business into which she has poured her heart and soul...