In the Frame – Dick Francis, 1976

Dick Francis is/was one of my favorite writers; not that I think he’s one of the greats (like Ursula LeGuin), but there’s something about his writing that I couldn’t get enough of at one point, so I collected everything he wrote. I still enjoy his horse-world-centered mysteries, but some of the appeal is fading with age. Somehow I misplaced my copy of In the Frame, so I hadn’t read it on my last Francis kick. Though it’s an above-average Francis, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The main character is a painter of horse portraits who uncovers the typical Francis horse-crook ring through Australian galleries selling fake Munnings canvases. Like many mysteries, part of the appeal is vicariously enjoying the research and travel the author got to do.