John WelcomeCritiques

Dick Francis is the author of some of the greatest stories available to the reading public -- especially stories about or relevant to horse racing.
Alas, as a picker of other people's stories, he is not quite the master.
This collection does indeed have some excellent stories, but, oy, some are just irritating and/or depressing.
In other words, probably every reader will like some and dislike others, so I guess my recommendation is, borrow it, don't buy it -- at least until you decide if you like more than you dislike.
Certainly there are plenty of stories to choose from. It's a fairly large collection, and Sturgeon's Law does NOT apply.

Possibly written with financial backing from Bentley Motor Company.
You would need to actively want to indulge in dated thrillers to start this book. John Welcome was an Irish lawyer whose hobbies were fox-hunting and racehorses and driving around the south of France.
From "The Times Literary Supplement", reviewing this book:
"Mr Welcome stirs all these ingredients up with the utmost relish and keeps the action going at such a pace that only the austerest of thriller readers will find it in their hearts to quarrel with such agreeable nonsense."
From "Evening News":
"Good swift adventure...plenty of thick-ear stuff, romance, and a pretty girl".
The silly plot features attempts to seize a formula to enhance race-horse performance. How the hero (one, Simon Herald) becomes involved is tenuous, but it is the writer's entry to display his knowledge of driving a Bentley, his familiarity with the road maps of Provence and how to dish out a bit of biff to the dastards when necessary. All ends with the villain (the evil Jason) and his Ferrari tumbling off the road edge of Mont Ventoux along with the formula.
Can you spare the time to read this? I could, but a few precious hours of life slipped away in doing so.

-- A CALL TO ARMS is an expansive book about war & relationships. Story unfolds in Ireland, London, & Kenya. Kit & Hugo share the surname Massiter but Andrew isn't Kit's father. When Andrew disowns Kit the younger man supports himself by racing horses & flying. Novel contains horses, whiskey, buffalo, aircraft, & a happy ending. --