Product Description

Malcolm Pembroke never expected to make a million pounds without making enemies. Nor did he expect his latest wife to be brutally murdered. All the clues suggest the killer comes from close to home - but after five marriages and nine children, that still leaves the field wide open. When he finds his own life in danger, Pembroke entrusts his safety to his estranged son, Ian, an amateur jockey; and through him discovers a compulsive new outlet for his financial expertise. Soon he's playing the international bloodstock market for incredible stakes. Not the safest bet for a man on the run from avaricious relatives. Particularly when one of them got a bomb...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #994785 in Books
• Published on: 1988-11
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 455 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Francis has another winner, as skillfully constructed as his previous bestsellers. This time, amateur British jockey Ian Pembroke tells what happens after the murder of his father Malcolm's fifth wife, Moira. A rapacious, sharp-tongued woman, she has caused a break between Malcolm and Ian, who despised her for marrying his father solely to get her hands on his considerable fortune. But two attempts on the old man's life compel him to ask Ian for help. Although the trusted son isn't fond of his eight half-siblings or their motheror even of his ownhe's loath to suspect them of conspiring to kill Malcolm, which seems to be the case. To protect his father, Ian takes him to America and other countries, where the two attend the glamorous, big-purse horse racesscenes at which the author excelsbefore returning warily to England. The story gains momentum, with extended family members furious over Malcolm's spending spree and blaming Ian for wasting their inheritance. A real spellbinder, the mystery ends when the miscreant plays one trick too many. Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection; Literary Guild dual selection and Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Amateur jockey Ian Pembroke is the narrator and principal mover in this engaging effort from the veteran British author. Summoned by his fabulously wealthy father, Malcolm, after a three-year estrangement, Ian attempts to discover who murdered Malcolm's money-grubbing fifth wife and who wants Malcolm dead as well. Suspects include the man's three surviving ex-wives, variously vicious or vindictive, and eight children, arrayed in darkening shades of nasty. Hidden gold, house bombs, expensive racehorses, and foreign venues spice up the familial infighting. A best bet. Literary Guild dual main selection; Mystery Guild featured alternate. REK
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
"Francis, an ex-jockey, has a sense of pace that would be the envy of most of his former colleagues....He throws in a doozy of a bonus surprise."
PEOPLE
Wealthy gold trader Malcolm Pembroke has five ex-wives and nine chidren between them, all fighting among themselves. 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, to protect him from his nearest and dearest. While he's at it, Ian is also commissioned 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.

Customer Reviews

My favorite Dick Francis book
I don't know why, but this one seemed to have it all. I just couldn't put it down.

Suspense, intrigue, mystery, romance... The other reviews are correct. Anything by Dick Francis is good. But I give this one an especially strong recommendation.

Too much money
For whatever reason this novel has gone out of print. One can hope that the publisher will reprint. The main character, Malcomb Pembroke, has a knack for making money, particularly in investments in gold, and has become very wealthy (by 1987 standards, when the novel was written). The problem is the fact that he doesn't get along with his ex-wives and children. He won't increase allowances set when he was merely rich rather than filthy rich. His first three ex-wives and their seven children seem to hover about like greedy vultures waiting for him to die so they can inherit the estate. This is compounded by sibling rivalries, ex-wives poisoning their childrens' minds, and various mental attitudes. The children are furious when Malcomb starts donating money to charities and spending millions on racehorses.

The novel is an interesting whodunit as first Malcomb's fifth wife is murdered, and then attempts are made on his life. There are many people with motives, mainly in the family. His son Ian, the only child he trusts, helps unravel the mystery. The story illustrates how money can corrupt a family. While the reader can make some guesses, the ending is not obvious.

Family Affair
HOT MONEY is one of the best of Dick Francis's novels. Five ex-wives, nine children, their spouses, and assorted grand-children make gold-trader Malcolm Pembroke the perfect candidate for murder.
His son, Ian Pembroke has made his way in the world of horses and broke with his father when he married the gold-digger Moria.
But Moria ends up face down in potting soil and Malcolm is attacked in his own backyard.
Malcom's pride doesn't prevent him from asking his son for help when he enters the Newmarket sales as a potential buyer and Ian sticks around to keep his father alive. Each character is so finely drawn and vividly presented they step off the page and into your life.
Read, read and enjoy.
Nash Black, author of TRAVELERS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.