Proof (A Dick Francis Novel)

Dick Francis and his wife Mary wrote as a team, and as time went on that team appeared to include their son Felix, who took over the Dick Francis brand in the early 2000s, when his mother had died and father got too old to write. Up until the mid-90s most of the books were written in a very distinct style: a strong focus on the horse jumping world, beautiful spare prose, page turning plots, and detective-like main characters with similar methods of operation. However, in the 1980s, another style entered into some of the books and has continued since Felix took over the franchise. The plots take much longer to develop. The sentences are decidedly much longer. There is no rhythm to the prose whatsoever. And the horse-racing world, while there, recedes well into the distance. Proof is one of these second types of books. I can fall asleep at night after reading a page and a half, where with the earlier books, I would be awake until four in the morning unable to put the book down. I can't say it's a poorly written book, because it reads like any number of other authors I could name. But if you are looking for the classic Dick Francis page turning, spare prose, racing world driven book, pass this one by.

“As a detective what pleases me is proof... so what’s proof?”“If you mix a liquid with gunpowder and ignite it, and it burns with a steady blue flame, that’s proof.”He looked faintly bemused.“Proof of what?”“Proof that the liquid is at least fifty percent alcohol.’’Like all of Francis’ titles - ‘Proof’ includes multiple meanings . . .First to ‘prove’ the alcohol content.And then to ‘prove’ the guilty of the crime.Finally, more subtly, Beach to ‘prove’ his courage.Why Beach driven to ‘prove’ himself?“Not his father’s son,” was how the uncharitable put it.Or more plainly, “Lacks the family guts.”“My father, a soldier, had won both the Distinguished Service Order and the Military Gold Cup, dashing as valiantly into steeplechase fences as he had into enemy territory. His bravery on all battlefields had been awe-inspiring, and he died from a broken neck on Sandown Park racecourse when I was eleven, and watching.’’Just his famous father’s legacy?“My grandfather, a distant Titan who had finished second one year in the Grand National before covering himself with military glory in World War I. My grandfather’s Victoria Cross lay beside my father’s D.S.O. in the display case I had inherited. It was their dash, their flair, their daredevilment that they had not passed on.’’“Are you going to grow up like your father, then?” had been said to me in friendly, expectant fashion countless times through my childhood, and it had only slowly dawned on everyone, as on me, that no, I wasn’t.’’So this heritage drives Beach to ‘prove’ his courage. Adds a lot of depth to this story.Another theme - ‘prove’ that evil is chosen, not imposed . . .“Do you ever try to find out what becomes of the people you catch... afterwards?”“No, not often. On the whole they are vain, greedy, heartless and cunning. I don’t care for them. One can feel sorry for them, but it’s with their victims my sympathies normally lie.”“Not like the old joke,” I said.“What old joke?”“About the man who fell among thieves, who beat him and robbed him and left him bleeding and unconscious in the gutter. And along came two sociologists who looked down upon him lying there and said, the one to the other, ‘The man who did this needs our help.’ ”Not the popular opinion. Conversation continues . . .“Absolution, it had always seemed to me, was a fake. To err was human, to be easily forgiven was to be sentimentally set free to err again. To be repeatedly forgiven destroyed the soul.’’So the villains are shown as freely choosing evil. Beach presented as freely choosing to fight and conquer the evil - even at extreme risk.He ‘proves’ his worth to his heritage.Concluding page . . .Beach finds a long lost note written by his father . . .I stared at the page, transfixed. It was a scrawl, a cri de coeur, hurried, barely punctuated, ending without a question mark. I knew my mother wouldn’t have sent it, if she’d seen it. It too nearly destroyed the myth.I felt nearer to him than ever before.I felt his true son.He had written ... at not quite my present age, he had written:“The battle must be soon now. It is essential not to show fear to the men, but God, I fear Why can’t I have the courage of my father?”Francis ability to quickly draw interesting, vivid, even fascinating characters makes his work precious.Some of his portraits stay with me for years. This book has many people so finely drawn, that it really adds to the drama. Not just a story, but human emotion and individual reactions.Great!

There are times when I want to read a stand-alone mystery. There's no mental commitment to reading a whole series of books and no trying to remember what came before. For that sort of book, Dick Francis comes to mind. Usually there's at least a tangential link to horses and I feel like I will learn something new.This time the industry is the wine/spirit industry. Wine merchant Tony Beach is the focus and "proof" has more to do than with spirits. Is there a decent life after the sudden death of a dearly loved spouse? Will Tony find courage? Can the hero prove who the villain is? Early in the book we find out there is indeed a bad guy, but who is he? How does everything tie together? The reader and the hero take this path together.This is an excellent traditional mystery.

Dick Francis' books are always an engrossing read. This time we have a hero who doubts himself because he does not not share in the family's brand of excellence. As does every Francis hero, he resolves this self-doubt before the end of the book, and it also reshapes for him the aching loss of his much-loved wife.What's different and unusual about "Proof" is the chase scene at book's end. I happen to be immune to Stephen King's brand of horror. Francis doesn't practice that kind of nebulous terror. Instead, he gives us hero and sidekick taking the investigation of a murderous perpetrator into his lair. Our hero is, quite rightly, very frightened of the man, who is known to have executed a former ally in a peculiarly grisly and cruel fashion.I first read this book upon its publication many long years ago. The details had escaped me, but I found myself unwilling to re-read that chase scene. When I finally did, waiting for broad daylight to read it in, I was astonished at the power and precision of Dick Francis' writing. I still had to change my underwear afterward.The book's denouement is an equally powerful catharsis, accomplished with an economy of words that deprives it of none of its muscle. Highly recommended.