Murder At The Races

by Peter Haining

Blood pounding in the head... death in the saddle... killers at the finish... murder at the races.More than any other sport, horse racing encompasses all walks of society - from the royal and the very rich to the gamblers and the frankly shadv characters who hover at the edges of its world of speed, thrills and big money.Murder At The Races is a heart-stopping collection of tales Knuturing such famous races as the Grand National, the Gold Cup and the Kentucky Dcrbv; stories bv brilliant jockeys-turned-writers like Dick Francis, John Francome, Steve Donoghue; obsessive gambler-turned-writers like Edgar Wallace, Ernest Hemingway and Damon Runvon; and bv top crime writers such as Leslie Charteris, Julian Symons, John Galsworthv and Agatha Christie.Murder At The Races as fast, furious and exhilarating as the Sport of Kings itself.

Genres: Mystery

573 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a beautifully put together anthology, with easy to read clear print and plenty of white space. There was a wide selection, including a few stories that made their debut here, or were printed in book form for the first time. Our Editor wrote excellent introductions to each of the stories ... which were often better than the stories.

And that's the main problem with the book. In order to include some new or different material, he often chose selections that weren't mysteries, that didn't have much to do with racing, or dealt with crimes that weren't murder. And also included three racing stories found in just about every other racing anthology put together before.

Almost all of the stories focus on people, not horses. I've come to expect that with these things, but it is a bit of a drag.

Selections:

* "Introduction" by Our Editor. A lively, and sometimes funny, look at the history of crime at English racetracks, particularly Newmarket. Most anthology introductions are thoroughly skippable, but this one is required reading. Our Editor would also go on to do some amazing intros before most of the selections, so don't skip them, either.
* "Under Starter's Orders" by John Masefield. From Right Royal. Interesting rhymed poem about advice on riding a particular steeplechase.

Part I: Sport of Killers: Mystery on the Course

* "The Protection Racket" by Dick Francis. From Dead Cert. This is the climax of Francis' first thriller, so if you've never read that book, skip this, put this anthology down, and go read it.
* "Nobbling the Favourite" by Nat Gould. This was part of the Barry Bromley series. Unfortunately, it's not a complete story. The horses are just names without any description or personality. Also, the evil bookmaker seemed to be Jewish. Ooo, that hasn't aged well.
* "A Racing Swindle" by Thomas Gaspey/Richmond. From Richmond, or Scenes From the Life of a Bow Street Runner. Our Editor is guessing as who "Richmond" was. It's a difficult to follow piece, set in Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, where racing of the New Forest Ponies (including racing them against Thoroughbreds) had gone on for hundreds of years, but stopped about 50 years after this was first published. Also has touches of racism. One Thoroughbred is cruelly crippled.
* "Silver Blaze" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This Sherlock Holmes story appears in a zillion other anthologies, but this time it's proceeded by an excellent introduction by Our Editor, including information about the real racehorse that was most likely the inspiration for Silver Blaze.
* "Won By a Neck" by Leslie Charteris. Part of The Saint series. The track mentioned here was destroyed in the construction of Gatwick airport. Very disappointing story where you have no idea what happened at the end.
* "The American Invasion" by Frank Johnson. Based on real events, where American crooks did go to the UK to fix races. WARNING: A terrier is mildly abused.
* "A Derby Horse" by Michael Innes/John Innes Macintosh Stewart. Part of the John Appleby series. Very silly stolen racehorse story, but at least it was different.
* "The Horse That Died for Shame" by Peter Tremayne. This is part of the Sister Fildema of Kildare series. This is set in Ireland in 665 CE. The High King's jockey and horse have been murdered. Rather pedestrian murder mystery.
* "Murder On the Racecourse" by Julian Symons. This is part of the Francis Quarles series. Halfway decent murder mystery, but mostly nothing about horses or the Grand National. The author died just before this anthology went to press, so Our Editor's intro was also an eulogy.
* "The Body in the Horsebox" by John Francome and James MacGregor. From Eavesdropper. I'm planning on reading the entire novel, so I skipped this. I did read Our Editor's excellent intro, though.

Part II: Dead Weights: Mayhem In the Saddle

* "Calling the Tune" by Steve Donaghue. Really beautiful story by the former champion jockey, about a young jock about to throw the greatest flat race in England -- the Derby, at Epsom. Unlike most of thd other stories in this collection, this one features the racehorse.
* "To Win a Race" by Alfred Watson. Written in the days when ringers were common, this is about ringers for two races. Cute, but you can see the ending coming a mile away.
* "Dead Cert" by Leon Breaker. Not to be confused by the Dick Francis novel. About 50 years before Francis, the Australian jockey Leon Breaker turned his hand to fiction. His books have all but disappeared -- not even on the Internet Archive. However, if this story was typical of his writings, they deserved to disappear. This was overdramatic in the extreme, from a sobbing woman to a horse who sobs before he dies. WARNING: At least three horses die in a steeplechase.
* "Nat Wedgewood Trapped" by Jack Fairfax-Blakeborough. From Nat Wedgewood, Jockey. This is just the beginning of the book, to get you hooked. The novel was from 1933, so some of the slang is mind-boggling, but overall, this was interesting, with well-defined characters. It's hard not to feel for the aging jockey.
* "The Phantom Jockey" by Bat Masters/Ernest Charles Buley. Although the writer was known for racing mysteries, the real mystery here is how a racehorse was able to run in the Victorian Derby and THREE DAYS LATER, run and win the Melbourne Cup. This is actually a ghost story and not a mystery.
* "Thoroughbred" by Max Brand/Frederick Schiller Faust. Although best known for his Westerns and for creating Dr. Kildare, this is neither a Western nor a medical mystery. It's predictable and over the top -- in other words, the usual Brand.
* "My Old Man" by Ernest Hemingway. This is one of the best racing stories ever written, but you can find it, or a shortened version, in a zillion anthologies since it first appeared in 1923. This is the entire story.
* "Saratoga in August" by Hugh Pentecost/Judson Pentecost Philips. This was part of the John Jerico series. Lovely, lush prose, but only one suspect, with an ending entirely improbable and the fate of a severely injured racehorse unknown.
* "The Photographer and the Jockey" by James Holding. This is part of the Manuel Andradas series. Not a mystery, but a story of a hired assassin getting the money he feels he deserves for his latest victim, the most famous jockey in Brazil. Hard to feel any sympathy for a child killer.
* "Ellen Keegan's Revenge" by Mary Ryan. This was Ryan's first published short story, and it shows. This isn't a mystery, but a ghost story, or urban fantasy. It's a lushly written, incredibly stupid story. We have the black stallion no one can ride except a boy, a crazy Irish witch, a husband who dies screaming out a curse ... just embarrassing.

Part III: Fixed Odds: Crime and the Gamblers

* "Straight From the Horse's Mouth" by Edgar Wallace. This was one of many stories that the prolific Wallace wrote about Detective Sergeant William Challoner, aka The Miller. Educated Evans, one of Wallace's most famous characters, also appears. It's the usual yawner.
* "A Story Goes With It" by Damon Runyan. This is one of the Hot Horse Herbie stories. But, like with any other Runyan story, if you've read one, you've read them all.
* "Had a Horse" by John Galsworthy. A painfully beautiful story about the hold a racehorse can have on a person -- even a cold-heartered bookmaker. Unfortunately, this story appears in a hundred other anthologies.
* "Morning in the High Street" by Barre Lyndon/Alfred Edgar. A tipster is making a fortune advertising that if his tip doesn't win, you get your money back. How is he able to do it?
* "The Crackler" by Agatha Christie. From Partners in Crime. A Tommy and Tuppence Beresford mystery. Except for mentions of Edgar Wallace, this has nothing to do with racing. The cute, rich British couple are out to capture a counterfeiter.
* "Something Short of Murder!" By Henry Slesar. Shows how desperate a compulsive gambler can be in order to get the money to bet. Unpredictable, in that this lady gambler doesn't go on the game.
* "Born Gambler" by Thomas Walsh. Sometimes, winning a huge hunk of money at the races might be the worst thing that ever happened to you. Spectacular Bid is mentioned here. He was the horse I had my first bet on.
* "The Later Edition" by Victor Bridges. The twist ending isn't that much of a twist.
* "Two and a Half Percent" by Mark Daniel. This was Daniel's first published short story. This was one of the only stories that focused on the racehorse owned and ridden by Our Protagonist.
* "En Famille" by Ed Gorman. Pro tip: If you're addicted to gambling on horse races, take a nod from the racing world. Get yourself gelded.