From Publishers Weekly
For his 33rd-and quite splendid-novel, Francis (Decider) adds to his usual horse-racing setting a backdrop involving feature filmmaking. As usual, though, it's murder most foul and mayhem most brilliant for this English master. In the Suffolk city of Newmarket, Thomas Lyon is for the first time directing a film featuring an American megastar. Based on a bestselling book, the movie concerns a still unexplained, 26-year-old death by hanging of a young horse trainer's wife. The wife's sister, niece and nephew are vehemently opposed to the film, while the book's author, who's also the screenwriter, is opposed to any changes in his plot. The megastar's double is attacked, a murder occurs, Thomas gets death threats and finds himself in great peril. How Francis has him solve the assorted mysteries and achieve a satisfactory ending for his film is nothing short of dazzling. Francis puts his novel together in the same way a movie is constructed, with out-of-sequence scenes, dissolves and brilliant images. He offers wonderful set pieces and moves his large and colorful cast with the aplomb of a seasoned director. Even better, in Thomas Lyon he has created a representative of a vanishing, even endangered, fictional species: the thoroughly decent chap we care about. A tip-top thriller, this could make the best movie about movies since The Stunt Man. BOMC main selection; author tour. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA?Francis's fans will not be disappointed with his latest offering. Thomas Lyon is making a movie based on an event that occurred almost 20 years earlier?the hanging death of a horse trainer's young wife. Valentine Clark, Thomas's long-time friend and a prominent figure in the racing world, is dying, and while Thomas is reading to him he makes a death-bed confession. His whispered confidences relate too directly to Thomas's film to be ignored, especially as the movie set is plagued with suspicious problems and attempted murders. Despite being stabbed himself, Thomas tries to solve the past and present mysteries, produce his movie, and save his own life. Besides providing a many-faceted mystery and the author's trademark insights into the horse world, this novel offers an in-depth, fascinating behind-the-scenes view of filmmaking.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VACopyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Directing a film about the mysterious suicide of a local Newmarket beauty, Thomas Lyons hears the dying confession of an aged friend. When he becomes the target of murder attempts, he uncovers the truth about his film project. Simon Jones clearly differentiates the various characters in a well-paced reading. This abridgment preserves the flavor of the full-length story, as well as entertaining details of filmmaking and horse racing. M.M. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
After producing 34 popular novels in 32 years, it's not surprising that Francis has the formula for success down pat. He's a dependably good writer who can churn out one mystery after another and still keep them interesting. His heroes are decent, likable chaps who generally remain untarnished by the evil around them, and his writing is as unobtrusively smooth and classy as a single-malt scotch. His latest book promises to be another hit. Filmmaker Thomas Lyon is making a movie--based on a best-selling book--of a real-life tragedy in the horse-racing world. Twenty-some years ago, the young, attractive wife of a horse trainer was found hanged. Although her death was ruled a suicide at the time, Thomas' film reopens questions about what really happened. When Thomas' old friend Valentine Clark, a famous racing writer, whispers a puzzling deathbed confession about the years-old mystery, Thomas feels compelled to investigate. Problems begin to plague his film, and his life is threatened, but the mystery is too tantalizing for him to give up his quest for the truth. Another winner from this popular writer, so buy multiple copies and expect lots of reserve requests. Emily Melton

From Kirkus Reviews
Stealing a few hours from Unstable Times, the horsey film he's directing in Newmarket, Thomas Lyon goes to visit his friend Valentine Clark, a blacksmith/columnist dying of cancer, and becomes the reluctant repository of Valentine's confession that he killed that Cornish boy and left the knife with Derry. Cryptic ramblings, thinks Thomas, until Dorothea Pannier, the sister who survived Valentine, is savagely attacked by somebody who's been searching their house for some evidence (a book, a photo, a memorandum?) of Valentine's crime, and Thomas is threatened with death if he doesn't stop work on the film he's making, a fictionalized account of the 26-year-old hanging of Sonia Wells, whose husband, trainer Jackson Wells, the film seems to implicate in her death. There's no shortage of suspects who'd like to see the last of Unstable Times--Sonia's sister Audrey Visborough goes so far as to plant vituperative rumors about Thomas's feud with the screenwriter in a local tabloid, and the rest of the family lines up behind her to sniff their disapproval--but why would any of these prim snobs have stabbed so many people (Dorothea, her supercilious son Paul, Thomas himself) who seem to know nothing about the case? And who are Derry and the Cornish boy, anyway? The lowdown on film direction is fascinating--is there anything, however remotely connected with horses, that Francis isn't an expert on?--but the mystery is muddled and the villains muffled. Coming after the twin peaks of Driving Force (1992) and Decider (1993), this entry marks an off year for Francis and his many fans. (Book-of-the-Month Club main selection; author tour) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly
Dazzling...a tip-top thriller.

Book Description
The New York Times Bestseller. A New York Times Notable Book.

From the acclaimed master of mystery and suspense comes a thrilling novel about the illusion of film--and the reality of murder.

ANNOTATION

When a film director hears a friend's deathbed confession about an unsolved crime that rocked the racing world nearly 30 years ago, he is compelled to pick up the thread of the unfinished tale, and follow it through to the perilous end, ANew York Times Notable Book of the Year.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Once a blacksmith, now famous and respected as a newspaperman, Valentine Clark knows everyone who is anyone in the racing world. Aged, confused, blind and dying, he harbors a daunting secret that he is desperate to be rid of. He makes his last confession to his visiting film-director friend, Thomas Lyon, whom in his delirium he mistakes for a priest. Unburdened and at peace, Valentine passes away, yet his legacy remains, guarded by Thomas. On location in Newmarket, Thomas is troubled by the old man's secret. Seeking to understand this puzzling revelation, he uncovers a long-unsolved mystery that he soon finds is very much unforgotten. But as much as he wants to learn more, it seems he already knows too much. Imaginative and decisive though he may be, he will need superhuman courage and extreme cunning to stay alive.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

For his 33rd-and quite splendid-novel, Francis (Decider) adds to his usual horse-racing setting a backdrop involving feature filmmaking. As usual, though, it's murder most foul and mayhem most brilliant for this English master. In the Suffolk city of Newmarket, Thomas Lyon is for the first time directing a film featuring an American megastar. Based on a bestselling book, the movie concerns a still unexplained, 26-year-old death by hanging of a young horse trainer's wife. The wife's sister, niece and nephew are vehemently opposed to the film, while the book's author, who's also the screenwriter, is opposed to any changes in his plot. The megastar's double is attacked, a murder occurs, Thomas gets death threats and finds himself in great peril. How Francis has him solve the assorted mysteries and achieve a satisfactory ending for his film is nothing short of dazzling. Francis puts his novel together in the same way a movie is constructed, with out-of-sequence scenes, dissolves and brilliant images. He offers wonderful set pieces and moves his large and colorful cast with the aplomb of a seasoned director. Even better, in Thomas Lyon he has created a representative of a vanishing, even endangered, fictional species: the thoroughly decent chap we care about. A tip-top thriller, this could make the best movie about movies since The Stunt Man. BOMC main selection; author tour. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

YA-Francis's fans will not be disappointed with his latest offering. Thomas Lyon is making a movie based on an event that occurred almost 20 years earlier-the hanging death of a horse trainer's young wife. Valentine Clark, Thomas's long-time friend and a prominent figure in the racing world, is dying, and while Thomas is reading to him he makes a death-bed confession. His whispered confidences relate too directly to Thomas's film to be ignored, especially as the movie set is plagued with suspicious problems and attempted murders. Despite being stabbed himself, Thomas tries to solve the past and present mysteries, produce his movie, and save his own life. Besides providing a many-faceted mystery and the author's trademark insights into the horse world, this novel offers an in-depth, fascinating behind-the-scenes view of filmmaking.-Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Secondary School, Burke, VA

BookList - Emily Melton