SOURCE: "Another Day At the Races," in Washington Post Book World, November 17, 1991, p. 10.

In the following review, Corrigan briefly discusses Francis's formula and how Comeback differs from his previous novels.

By now, fans look forward to getting three things in a Dick Francis mystery. First, there's the obligatory "race-with-a-ctose-finish" scene, in which an unlikely horse with the heart of a champion beats the racetrack favorite by a nostril hair. Francis recycles this scene to establish the moral code of his books. It goes something like this: Racing is like Life. Cowards and cheaters always lose; the good and the brave always win, damn the odds!

Another staple of Francis's books is his reverence for superior bloodlines, not only in horses but in people. The typical thriller restores order to the racing world by restoring power to the aristocracy. Usually a humble but fearless hero (often a jockey) discovers...