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Tropical Downs by Mark Cramer

About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Dick Francis and John Francome have proven that horse racing and mystery fiction writing are a successful pairing. DRF handicapper and Paris-based travel writer Mark Cramer brings back the character of Matt Bosch from "Scared Money" in his new novel "Tropical Downs", on a new adventure that includes New York, Maryland, California, and Bolivia. Cramer drew on years of experience as a handicapper, travel writer, and fiction author, and the combination of the three worked beautifully.

Pros

Very entertaining story involving the underworld and horse racing
Cramer draws on first-hand experience with Bolivian politics and culture
Story can be enjoyed by mystery fiction fans and racing fans alike

Cons

This is excellent work by an experienced writer of both fictional and non-fictional work

Description

Matt Bosch is a horseplayer and jazz pianist with a mathematical mind, always looking for simple handicapping angles.
He finds himself meeting shady characters who make him the proverbial "offer you can't refuse".
His job is to push through the development of a new racetrack in Bolivia, a country that lacks horse racing.
He needs secure a signature to get approval, collect a $100,000 fee for his efforts, and possibly manage the new business.
It was a horseplayer's dream come true; manage a racetrack, and use part of the fee as betting bankroll.
However, nothing comes easy, not in handicapping and definitely not in dealing with the underworld.
He finds himself in the middle of a violent land conflict between natives and powerful business interests.
His wife is on the wrong side of the deal, in opposition to what he was sent there to do, further complicating matters.
An exotic call-girl supposedly comes to the rescue, but her motives are never clear.
Who's side is she on? And although she may be on his side now, will she eventually turn on him?

Guide Review - Tropical Downs by Mark Cramer

Intertwined with the main story is Matt's continued participation in horse racing while in a country which lacks tracks and OTB's. His friend in California faxes him the Daily Racing Form which he handicaps, and then he calls his friend back to place his bets for him at Santa Anita. He also brought with him a stack of old Racing Forms to study, to search for patterns and statistics to create an "automatic bet" system, simple methods that point at likely winners at decent odds that are worth a play without needing to invest hours of study on the past performances.. Although written into the context of the story, this was in fact Cramer himself describing some of his own research, as if to "embed" a handicapping book within his novel. It was as if Cramer was writing two books in one: a very entertaining mystery novel and a handicapping book on angles. Just like how Matt would delve into handicapping as a break from all the tension surrounding him, Cramer includes this special treat for the reader.