Tony Beach is a 32-uear-old widower who is a wine merchant with an in with the horsey crowd because his father was a famous amateur jockey and his mother rides in the local hunt. Because of his connections, he's hired to supply the liquor for a party hosted by one of the local trainers. He sees a horrible accident when a loaded horse trailer rumbles down a hill and crashes into the outdoor tent where the party is being held. He and some of the other guests do their best to rescue many trapped in the collapsed tent. Even so, the guest of honor, a sheik, some of his entourage, one of the trainer's best customers Larry Trent, and a few other people die in the accident.

The trainer breaks a leg, and his secretary is also severely injured, but not before he has a conversation with Tony about some whiskey he had at the Trent's supper club. He is convinced that the whiskey wasn't what the bottle's label says it was. This conversation makes its way through the trainer's wife to Gerrard McGregor who helped Tony free people during the accident and who works for an investigative agency.

Gerrard recruits Tony to be his expert for his current case which concerns the theft of trucks filled with whiskey, Gerrard's company has been hired to find out how the thefts are happening because the company won't be able to stay in business if the thefts continue.

Meanwhile, the local police also need Tony's expertise because they have numerous complaints about alcohol being sold in local pubs that isn't what it is supposed to be. Trent's supper club is on the list and Tony quickly identifies that the whiskey and some of the wines are being misrepresented. While they are there, a man from the home office appears and seems surprised about the liquor. Shortly thereafter the wine manager at Trent's is found murdered by having his head wrapped in plaster of Paris.

As Tony and Gerrard investigate, they begin to find connections between the two investigations and the tension mounts as they get closer to a solution and also closer to a killer.

This is one of my favorite stories by Dick Francis. I really enjoy that the hero has self-doubts about his courage and fear that he won't be able to live up to the heroics of his father and grandfather. I also like that he isn't afraid to be grieving for the death of his young wife. I also like that he is happy in his career.

The narration was expertly done by Simon Prebble who managed a variety of accents to distinguish the various characters without making the accents incomprehensible to my American ears. He also did a great job conveying the various emotions of the characters and the rising tensions in the story. ( )

One of my all time favorites. This is one of the ones I recommend to Dick Francis virgins. Interesting, fast paced and accessible. Good emotional content and some of the most graphic scenes in Francis' work. ( )

My first read by Dick Francis, certainly not the last, Proof made me realise why he is held in such esteem by tonnes of readers world over. The beautifully fleshed out characters, the well crafted mystery, and the flowing narrative filled with interesting information about horse racing and wines and scotch held me captive from start to finish.
I hugely enjoyed this novel and plan to dig more into Francis's body of work. ( )

Plot not as good as some of his others, but still a solid read. I always enjoy Francis's heroes. And this one was particularly enjoyable. Tony Beach is witty, smart, capable and brave when push comes to shove. Other than the villain who was a little too broadly drawn, the other characters were nicely written. The cameo by one memorable female bar owner was a nice addition to the cast. ( )

Wine merchant, Tony Beach, is delivering wine to a party of racing enthusiasts when a horse trailer breaks loose and kills several people in the party tent. The police question him about who he saw around the trailer and they are impressed with his ability to remember things. Eventually the police ask for his expert help in following up on complaints about false labeling on some of the Scotches and wines provided to local bars and restaurants. That then leads to him being asked to assist private detective Gerard McGregor in finding out who is responsible for a series of whiskey bottling trucks being hijacked.

I've never been much of a Dick Francis fan because I just don't have any interest in horses and that's normally what he writes about. I'm still nursing a grudge from a nasty horse I met about forty years ago. I do love wine and this book is filled with interesting tidbits about wine, as well as Scotch whiskey. I also loved the characters in this story. Tony Beach is a widower who is devastated by grief for his recently deceased wife. He's also the son of a military hero and knows he doesn't live up to the expectations his family had for him.

There were plenty of twists and turns and the ending was incredibly tense. It definitely wasn't predictable and even though the villain was already known to the reader, it was a very compelling novel. I really enjoyed this book, especially the character of Tony Beach and his slow realization of what sort of man he really is. I may have to reconsider Dick Francis books, even the ones that deal with horses. ( )