Blood Sport

I really like Dick Francis' books. This one was different in that the main character is dealing with depression and suicidal thoughts. He is on three weeks of leave but his boss is worried about him being alone and invites him to come along on a family trip to the river. He introduces Gene to a friend that needs help. Dave Teller had invested in a race horse and it disappeared during transport. It is insured but he wants Gene to help him find the horse. He also noted that 2 other valuable race horses had disappeared at different times. In some cases it appeared it might be an accident and one of the horses was later found dead. While Gene is learning about the story an incident happened and Dave Teller is stuck in the head and falls overboard. Gene immediately jumps in after the unconscious man and they are both sucked down by the current and pulled under a weir. They were able to get back to the surface and Dave was resuscitated but he has a broken thigh. Gene believes it was an attempted murder and makes sure that Dave is protected while in the hospital and then goes to look for the horse in the US.