A Francis novel wouldn't be complete without thoroughbred racing in fact, Al's estranged wife is a race trainer, and one of the many things Al has to hide is Golden Malt, his stepfather's steeplechaser, slated to run in the King Alfred Gold Cup-unless Al's spiteful stepsister can steal the horse first. In desperation, the business affairs of the brewery are turned over to Al, though he pines for solitude, his easel and the mountains. Al learns that his stepfather's brewery is about to collapse because the finance director has absconded with millions of pounds. Hard on the beating, Al must rush to London to comfort his mother in the aftermath of her husband's heart attack. ""Where is it?"" they demand, establishing the leitmotif of concealed objects that Francis weaves through the plot. Al's keen visual sense allows him to draw the faces of the four thugs who beat him and tear apart his home in the opening chapter. A descendant of the Scottish earl to whom the prince gave the hilt, narrator Alexander Kinloch lives in an unelectrified bothy in the Scottish mountains, supporting himself through his paintings. The ""hilt"" of Francis's delightful 35th thriller refers to the jewel-encrusted, solid gold handle of the ceremonial sword of Scotland's would-be king, Bonnie Prince Charlie.
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