Perry Stuart is a physics Ph.D. and meteorologist on BBC television. He is devoted to his disabled grandmother. Perry and his friend, fellow weather broadcaster and amateur pilot, Kris Ironside, have always wanted to fly through a hurricane. After an outing to a horse training facility and a racetrack where Perry encounters various and sundry horsey types including the Darcys and the Fords, an opportunity arises to travel to Florida and perhaps fly through Odin, which has the potential of developing into a hurricane. His grandmother has the heebie-jeebies, which is usually an indication of danger, but Perry assures her there is almost no risk.

Perry and Kris stay with the Fords in Grand Cayman, and Robin Darcy offers a plane for their use. Perry is concerned that Kris seems to be somewhat secretive about their route. Kris eventually confesses that he has agreed to detour to Trox Island where Ford supposedly grows mushrooms and Perry is to take photographs.

Trox Island is deserted except for a herd of cows. The weather worsens, and they take off into the rising storm. Odin has become a level 5 hurricane, and when an engine on the plane stalls, they drop to the ocean surface where they barely manage to escape, Kris in a life raft and Perry adrift in only a life jacket.

Perry is swept back to Trox Island where he survives on cows’ milk and discovers a Geiger counter and mysterious papers in a safe. After several days, Perry is rescued by persons in radioactivity-protective gear. Perry knows that something strange is afoot and launches an investigation that will nearly cost him his life.

Second Wind has much of the Francis signature style. Written in the first person, the story features a noble but modest hero who surmounts overwhelming odds to single-handedly solve the mystery and save the day while usually suffering some dire injury and winning lady fair in the process.

The expertise in all aspects of horse racing that usually characterizes a Francis mystery has been transferred to information about weather forecasting, particularly the specifics of hurricanes. The hurricane is a most appropriate theme for this book because the plot swirls around in disorganized directions. Even the most astute armchair detective will be stymied figuring out whodunit because it isn’t until near the end of the book that the reader even knows what’s been done.

Character development receives minimal attention so that many of the individuals are never more than mere names. Even the hero, likable and admirable as he is, is fairly one-dimensional. He’s brave, he’s resourceful, he’s insightful, he’s kind to his dear old granny, but he doesn’t have much more personality than the minor characters. The romance -- or what passes as romance -- is so perfunctory that it’s a mystery why the author bothered to include it.

It’s easy to be swept up into one of Dick Francis’s mysteries, and his legions of fans will want to read his latest. They might be advised, however, to borrow it from their library or wait for the paperback edition. Compared to some of his other mysteries, Second Wind barely comes up to a level 3.

--Lesley Dunlap