As Derek Franklin, an injured steeplechase jockey, nears the end of his career, he is thrust into trouble and mayhem by the accidental death of his older brother, Greville. “I inherited my brother’s desk, his business, his gadgets, his enemies, his horses and his mistress.” Derek says. “I inherited my brother’s life, and it nearly killed me.”

          With danger besetting him from unknown directions, Derek’s only hope of survival is to identify the enemy. But Greville, whose life had so many facets as the gemstones he imported, has left behind more philosophizing than useful clues. “The bad scorn the good,” Greville wrote, “and the crooked despise the straight.” Derek Franklin must call on all his stamina and endurance to make the final, straight run in his brother’s life… without losing his own…