Hot Money
M. Joseph, 1987; Putnam, 1988
The original page carried a reader's review by Kelly Orgill.
Characters
- Ian Pembroke
- 33, jockey
- Malcolm Pembroke
- 68, Ian's dad (nickname: Midas)
- Moira
- Malcolm's 5th wife
- Coochie
- Malcolm's 4th wife
- Robin
- Peter's twin (Coochie's)
- Peter
- Robin's twin (Coochie's)
- Joyce
- Ian's mother, Malcolm's 2nd wife, plays bridge
- Vivien
- Malcolm's 1st wife
- Alicia
- Malcolm's 3rd wife
- Mr. Siddons
- works for a bloodstock agency
- Max Jones
- "owns a lot of horses"
- Mrs. Tarazzeni
- owns a worldwide bloodstock empire
- Rackersons
- Malcolm's friends
- "Old Digger"
- Malcolm's friend
- Quantum
- Malcolm's house
- Arthur Bellbrook
- Malcolm's gardener
- Serena
- 26, Alicia's daughter, aerobics instructor
- Gervase
- 35, Alicia's oldest son, stockbroker
- Ferdinand
- 32, Alicia's middle child, statistician
- Thomas
- Vivien's youngest
- Berenice
- Thomas's wife
- Norman West
- private detective
- Edwin Bugg
- Lucy's husband
- Lucy
- 42, Vivien's daughter, poet
- Donald
- 44, Vivien's oldest son (also Malcolm's oldest), secretary of a prestigiuos golf club
- Helen
- Donald's wife
- Ursula
- Gervase's wife
- Deborah (Debs)
- Ferdinand's wife
- George
- trainer
- Jo
- George's wife
- Ramsey Osborn
- sold half share of Blue Clancy to Malcolm, sells sports clothes, American
- Detective Superintendent Yale
- Dave & Sally Cander
- Dogwood Drift Farm
- Mr. Smith
- explosives expert
- Old Fred
- gardener at Quantum before Arthur
Favorite passages
Review of Hot Money written by Kelly Orgill Hot Money The sky was a clear distant blue, the air crisp with the coming of autumn. The leaves on all those trees were yellowing, and the track lay waiting, green and springy, with the wide fences beckoning to be flown. Simple things; and out there one came starkly face to face with oneself, which I mostly found more exhilarating than frightening. Entrenched belief is never altered by the facts.
was probably my favorite thus far. Interesting in that the hero didn't fall in love with a beautiful girl. Very dynamic characters - lots of brothers and sisters squabbling over their old man's money, which he won't turn loose of. Relationship between Ian and his father is fun to watch through the progression of the story. Couldn't put this one down. Two of my favorite quotes in Hot Money: Just before one of Ian's races,
And also I liked the cartoon that summed up some people's illogical attitudes:
Chosen by members of the reading group in the late 1990s. From Hot Money by Dick Francis.
The group read it
We discussed Hot Money on February 9th, 1998 and again on July 12, 1999.
This page was first written for the reading group's original site in the late 1990s and was lost when AOL Hometown closed. It has been recovered from the Internet Archive.