"Proof"

By Dick Francis

Never content to be one of the crowd, for years I have avoided cutesie titled series’ such as “A is For...” or “The Cat Who...” and in particular those which included a protagonist with some sort of physical challenge (Janet Evanovich’s bail bondsperson Stephanie Plum, who after decades still can’t load her gun - but I still chuckle over every word) or a series of protagonists with the same vocation (Mr. Francis’ jockeys) or even a contemporary writer that has a large following.

At last deciding that at the very least I might discover some writers who could move or entertain me with their prose (and having 20 or so minutes to spare until Dean Koontz’s next novel) I decided to start catching up with some of the more prolific and popular novelists, which led me to the likes of Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich, and now Dick Francis. The wisdom of this avoidance is that I now have a serious inventory of reading to fall back on, by authors whose work I greatly enjoy.

"Proof", published in 1985, is about the eighth Dick Francis novel I have read and I have chosen it for review chiefly because of its subject matter, one near and dear to the hearts of my fellow ROFfians, that of single-malt whisky. The issue at hand is the hijacking of said spirits, cut and resold as the better brands, along with eight or so brands of blended wines repackaged under counterfeit estate labels.

The protagonist here is the recently widowed proprietor of a local liquor store with a particularly useful training in identifying brands of wine. Also among the main characters are the wife of a prominent racehorse trainer, a detective investigating the thefts on behalf of the transport company owner of the tankers whose contents are stolen, and the transport company’s owner whose son is a less than loyal supporter of the family business.

After an incident at the trainer’s country estate when a reception held for the trainer’s clients proves deadly for several of the guests in attempting to rescue the injured, a protective bond is formed between the trainer’s wife and the liquor store owner who provided the refreshments for the reception, and between the liquor store owner and the private investigator who enlists his talented palate in determining if the pricey labels behind the bar of a local restaurant actually contain the liquor they advertise.

Part of what makes this story interesting is the behind-the-scenes look into the production, supplying, and tasting of wines and spirits, as well as the development of the bond between the detective and the liquor store owner, who fears himself a coward in the shadow of his war hero father.

If there is a flaw I could name it would be that Mr. Francis is so thorough in developing his characters into truly likeable people it’s easy to care about that you are left somewhat disappointed and wishing they had greater roles to play when their contribution proves to be so brief. I felt myself wishing that the initial mayhem of a large horse trailer rocketing down a hill and into a party tent filled with people, was deliberately sinister and had more global purpose, but there are enough plot twists that you won’t be disappointed.

Hijacking, counterfeiting, tax evasion, murder (one particularly chilling), betrayal, "Proof" is absorbing and crafty, definitely one of Dick Francis’ best and by the time I was finished I was tempted to read it all over again.

Reviewed by Alana Carson