I’ve been doing a mystery binge, and this week it’s Dick Francis. The thing that always gets me about his work is the clear delineation between good and evil. His protagonists are always basically good people, not showy about it, not saintly, but firmly doing the right thing. And his antagonist are selfish, violent, powerful sadists. I just read the scene in 10 LB Penalty where the antagonist tries to shoot the protagonist’s father but misses because the father slips on the ice and falls just as the shot rings out. The father tells the son to run, but he doesn’t, he falls to his knees and covers his father’s head with his body because, as he explains later, the shot sounded like a 22, and that wouldn’t kill him unless it hit his head. So he protects his father’s head: competence porn matched with moral certitude. I really love Francis’s work.

How did you competently choose good books this week?