Straight

"I inherited my brother's life. Inherited his desk, his business, his gadgets, his enemies, his horses and his mistress. I inherited my brother's life, and it nearly killed me."

Thirty-four-year-old Derek Franklin, recovering from a race injury and facing an uncertain future, is thrown into familial chaos when his older brother Greville dies from a bizarre, seemingly random accident.

Filled with regret over the brother he never really knew, Derek must take over Greville's complex gemstone business, a business of which much seems to have been left unfinished.

With little more to go on than his brother's expensive toys and a few vague diary entries, Derek becomes more and more convinced that his very straight brother was brought down by some very crooked men.

Dick Francis is a bestselling writer who mixes mystery with horse racing for satisfying, clean, well-plotted whodunits.