Book four in the Harry Radcliffe mystery series. An intriguing and traditional murder mystery set in the world of racing with Harry a likeable protagonist and a more than reluctant amateur sleuth. An entertaining read and a worthy addition to the series.

Champion jockey Harry Radcliffe is wracked with guilt, reeling from the knowledge that his recent attempt to solve the murder of local prostitute Alice Goode has led to devastating consequences for his ex-wife Annabel and her new partner Sir Jeffrey, as well as horse-box driver John Dunston's suicide. A letter handed to Harry at John's funeral contains the shocking revelation that the circumstances surrounding his death are not what they seem. As Harry investigates, he uncovers links to his last case, as well as the death of his boss Mike Grantley's wife, Monica, in a skiing accident. With a trip to Switzerland and a budding romance on the cards, Harry is a man in demand.
This is the fourth Radcliffe book, which could be read on its own but there are lots of references to the previous book which could be confusing if you haven’t read Dead Reckoning. This is another well written book very much in the style of Dick Francis or John Francome so if like me you enjoy their books then you'll enjoy this. I quickly found myself drawn into the book but at times the storyline seemed to become a bit convoluted. The characters are well portrayed & have depth. Overall an enjoyable read of half murder mystery & half horse racing related
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Murders most foul.

Harry Radcliffe, a champion jump jockey, is convinced that his friend, John Dunston did not commit suicide and his convictions are confirmed when he receives a letter from the man’s solicitor. In the letter, Dunston requests that Harry looks into the matter.

Harry is lucky in some respects because the weather has turned particularly bad across the UK and all racing has been cancelled, giving him the much-needed time to see if Dunston’s death was suicide or murder.

There are lots of positives about this book. Glenis Wilson is very well versed in both training and running horses for both jump meetings and flat races. I found the detail given to the training and running races to be particularly interesting.

The characters, particularly Harry Radcliffe are well rounded, real and believable.

Unfortunately, I found the constant referral to his cat and the love triangle he’s found himself in with his wife and her new partner just too twee.

I’m sure that there will be lots of people who will love this mixture of racing, murders and romance, and I’m so pleased that Glenis Wilson can cater for their whims, it’s just not my taste.

Dietes

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Well written, fourth in the series, so I've missed a lot that gets mentioned. The mystery is good and the main character, Harry, has good friends that back him up and help him in the asking of questions to solve this mystery. Which I by no means was able to solve or even come close to who did it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. - I recommend this series and if possible suggest starting from the beginning.

Book four in the Harry Radcliffe series and it did not disappoint me. This tale of murder revolves around the horse racing industry. I enjoyed it and it kept me engrossed throughout.Thanks to Net Galley for my copy. Reviewed on Goodreads and Amazon.

Of course it wasn't champion jackey Harry Radcliffe's fault, but that didn't stop him feeling guilty. His attempts to solve the murder of prostitute Alice Goode had left his estranged wife, Annabel and her partner, Sir Jeffrey in danger and it was Harry who had urged them to get away as quickly as possible for the sake of themselves and their unborn child. It would be quite a while before he woke in hospital to find that Jeffrey and Annabel had been involved in a serious car accident. It looked as though Jeffrey would be in a wheelchair for life and Annabel had lost the baby. On top of that there was horsebox driver John Dunston's apparent suicide.

It was at John Dunston's funeral that Harry was handed a letter from the dead man and suddenly what everyone had accepted as suicide was cast in doubt. Harry was to collect a package from Dunston's solicitor: this, he was told, contained the only evidence as to what had happened. Radcliffe was reluctant to get involved in another murder investigation - he was behind in the jockeys' championship and needed to get more wins under his belt if he was to stand a chance of retaining the title - but gradually he was drawn into everyone else's affairs. Increasingly he found that what at first appeared to be a series of individual problems were, in fact, connected, and led back to one man. But who was he?

Glenis Wilson gives a couple of nods to the man who inspired her Harry Radcliffe mysteries, the late great Dick Francis, and the story is very reminiscent of his early books. If you've read the last book in the Harry Radcliffe series - Dead Reckoning you'll probably find it a great deal easier to work out what is happening than I did. If you haven't read Dead Reckoning then I suspect that you are going to find that there are spoilers for this and possibly other titles in the series. As you'll have gathered, I haven't read any of the earlier books.

The style of the book is very much from an earlier time and it was only mentions of smoking bans in pubs that convinced me that this didn't come from the eighties, but once I got into the book it was an easy and fast read. Wilson obviously has sound knowledge of the racing world and she brings it to life effectively. Her characterisation is well done and although one or two of the relationships seemed a little implausible I was happy to suspend disbelief. I hadn't worked out the name of the killer and the denouement was well done. It's not one of the great mystery books, but it was an engaging read for that rather dull time between Christmas and New Year.

I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House for an advance copy of Dead Heat, the fourth novel to feature jockey Harry Radcliffe.

When Harry attends John Dunstan’s funeral he is handed a letter from John stating that if Harry is reading it he was murdered and had no intention of committing suicide as everyone believes. Determined to investigate Harry finds links to his other investigations and some unsavoury practices.

I enjoyed Dead Heat which is a fairly convoluted tale of murder and bad behaviour, very much in the style of early Dick Francis. Initially I found it difficult to keep up with the plot and its frequent references to Harry’s last case although I have read Dead Reckoning, the previous novel, obviously too long ago for the detail to have stuck. Maybe this is the exception where reading the novels back to back makes more sense. Once in the swing of his new case it all got easier to follow although sorting out the myriad of characters and their relationships takes a little longer (I found myself backtracking at some points to get it all clear. It is an old fashioned novel and if not for the mentions of sat navs and the smoking ban I would have thought it was written 30+ years ago. The most obvious example is someone wanting John Dunstan’s letter back and the lengths Harry goes to hide it. Why not just scan it and hide it in the cloud?

The novel is, I would say, half crime novel and half examination of the racing world. I found the detail fascinating, especially the descriptions of ice racing in St Moritz, but ultimately mostly irrelevant to his investigation.

I know my review so far has been quite negative but actually it is refreshing to get a “straightforward” action/mystery novel which doesn’t go in for a lot of mental anguish and self examination. It is plot driven so the ins and outs of who did what and why kept me turning the pages from start to finish. The solution isn’t particularly innovative but I did get a surprise at the revelation of Mr Big.

Dead Heat is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.