Product Description

After a six-year absence from the bestseller lists, Dick Francis roared out of the gate with 2006's Under Orders, demonstrating once again every ounce of his famed narrative drive, brilliant plotting, and simmering suspense. Hard on the heels of that triumph comes Dead Heat, set against the backdrop of Britain's famed Two Thousand Guineas Stakes.

Max Moreton is a rising culinary star and his Newmarket restaurant, The Hay Net, has brought him great acclaim and a widening circle of admirers. But when nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation takes a hit. Scrambling to meet his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for forty in the glass-fronted private boxes at the Two Thousand Guineas, Max must overcome the previous evening's disaster and provide the new American sponsors of the year's first classic race with a day to remember.

Then a bomb blast rips through the private boxes, killing some of Max's trusted staff as well as many of the guests. As survivors are rushed to the hospital, Max is left to survey the ruins of the grandstand-and of his career. Two close calls are too close for comfort, and Max vows to protect his name-and himself- before it's too late.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53279 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
MWA Grand Master Francis's first collaboration with his son Felix, a former physics teacher who researched many of his father's previous bestsellers, introduces an engaging hero, though longtime fans may find certain plot elements, like an unlikely love interest and sinister figures somehow connected with shady racetrack doings, less than fresh. The reputation of Max Moreton, a young wunderkind chef with a restaurant in Newmarket, England, suffers after guests at an affair he caters fall ill with food poisoning. This calamity nearly jeopardizes another job—feeding several dozen attendees at a major horse race. While that meal goes off without a hitch, a terrorist's bomb decimates the crowd at the track. Despite the official theory that an unpopular Middle Eastern ruler at the event was responsible, the chef wonders whether the bombing is related to the earlier food poisoning and turns amateur sleuth. Crisp writing and well-paced action help offset the routine plotting. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Surprisingly, for a Dick Francis novel, horses feature here only peripherally. Max Moreton is a superstar chef whose life gets complicated when more than 200 people get sick after eating a dinner he catered at a racetrack. The next day, while hes serving lunch at another race, the glass-fronted box of the grandstand explodes. Max turns sleuth to save his reputation and his restaurant. Martin Jarvis perfectly depicts Max--young, determined, and newly in love. Jarviss flexibility is remarkable. He creates different voices and accents for supporting characters ranging from Maxs girlfriend, Caroline, to an elderly neighbor, a Wisconsin concierge, and a Russian importer. A.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
After a silence of six years, Francis made a triumphant return last year, bringing back the ever-intriguing series hero Sid Halley in Under Orders. Now, Francis introduces a new hero, chef Max Moreton, who runs a thriving restaurant near the Newmarket racetrack. Moreton has a complex background; he's afraid of horses yet fascinated by the world of horse racing (his father was a steeplechase jockey and racehorse trainer). Francis is, as always, completely convincing when it comes to the track, but his efforts at depicting the challenges and delights of cooking seem labored and secondhand (his son, Felix, is credited with the research for this book). Unfortunately, the cookery details often seem pasted on and unnecessary. The action, however, is first-rate Francis. It centers on Moreton's travails as chef. First, food poisoning hits his guests and staff at a racing gala. The next day, a bomb shatters the grandstand box where Moreton has catered a lunch. And as Moreton struggles to decipher the cause of the food poisoning and whether it was connected to the bombing, he suffers the prospect of financial ruin and emotional trauma from the bombing. Then he discovers that someone is out to kill him. This mix of cooking and racetrack isn't close enough to horse racing to be completely satisfying Francis, but the action and the hero's struggles deliver a solid punch. Fletcher, Connie

Customer Reviews

This still has the identifiable Francis touch
I am surprised by the reviews here which claim this doesn't read like a Dick Francis novel. I haven't read all his later books, but I found the style still ehre, maybe aged and matured, but unmistakeable.The title, as usual, has about three possible applications. The race track application of course is his trademark, and the restaurant application is equally obvious. The third application comes in the later part of the story. The racetrack connection is peripheral in this, but no more so than in several of his previous mysteries. The food preparation background isn't new with him. The wry humor and coincidental happenings are ever present along with his brand of brutality, the tinges of sadness at the loss of a couple of characters. The brutality, the betrayal of trust are themes that of course are not his alone, but the flavor of those elements is still the Francis we know and love. The richness of background detail is still the Francis we know.One always picks up some unusual knowledge in his books and this one is no exception. I did feel that he did a somewhat better job of tying up even the smallest of threads at the end although I was slightly disappointed at on character not being mentioned at the end.In my case though, he certainly did not disappoint.

Food Poisoning & Bombs. Let's Pray Dick Francis is Here to Stay
Max Morton is sick. He thinks it's food poisoning and he's not the only one affected, so he's worried, because last night he was the chef at a black tie dinner event. He's the youngest chef to receive the "Michelin Star" which is a true chiefly honor. He not only owns a popular restaurant in New Market, but he also operates his own catering business. So when an environmental health office shows up to investigate the poisoning, he's got cause for concern. The inspector does too, so she shuts down his restaurant, despite the fact that the food had not been prepared at his restaurant and that all of the leftovers are gone.

Fortunately Max still has his catering business. He's catering a function held in the viewing box at the 2000 Guineas horse race when a bomb goes off. Several people are killed, but luckily for Max, he suffers only minor injuries, however the woman who put on the event is badly injured and one of Max's staff does not survive the blast.

Despite this tragic event, Max still has to try and save his restaurant. He discovers kidney beans caused the poisoning. However there were no kidney beans on the menu, nor were they used in anything served that night, so how could they have been in the food? Now Max has to wonder if he'd been set up. He also begins to wonder if the bombing was somehow connected to the food poisoning. Was the food poisoning an attempt to keep someone away from the bombing, if so who? And who was the bomb intended for? These are just a few of the questions you'll be asking yourself as you page through this satisfying mystery.

I've long been a fan of Dick Francis and missed him dearly when he stopped writing. Then when he came back after so long off with Under Orders, I bought it straightaway. Now a year later we have this story. It's good to have Dick Francis back and I hope he and Felix have many more mystery thrillers in them.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Boring and Bland
I'm really surprised at all of the good reviews for this book. Granted, I listened to it on the audio version (it was a gift; not a choice I would ordinarily make), but I thought the plot was fairly boring and the protagonist was unconvincing in both his investigative exploits as well as his romantic ones. In addition, the performer who did the audio version was badly miscast, I thought. He sounded really old. It was jarring, in that the main characters were supposedly in their early 30s. I would suggest re-reading some of the old Francis books rather than taking a stab at this one.