SOURCE: "Mystery and Suspense From Three Old Hands," in The New York Times, December 20, 1993, p. C15.

In the following excerpt, Lehmann-Haupt praises Francis's Decider, asserting that Francis "writes winningly about horses."

At the start of Mr. Francis's Decider, Lee Morris, an Oxford architect and builder, is asked to help save a race track in nearby Swindon from destruction by the wealthy but violently feuding relatives who have inherited it. Knowing he should stay clear, he nevertheless piles five of his six sons, ages 14 to 7, into the family bus and drives them out for a look at the track. Before he knows it, he and one of the boys are nearly killed by an explosion that destroys the grandstand. Which crazed family remember could have done such a thing?

As always, Mr. Francis, a retired jockey, writes winningly about horses. "Imagine the world without them, I thought: history itself...