Title: Deadly Odds
Subtitle: Crime and Mystery Stories of the Turf
Description: Stories about horse racing have enjoyed a worldwide popularity for more than a hundred years, in particular those dealing with crime and mystery. Tales of jockeys, trainers, owners, punters, bookmakers, touts and fans -the good, the bad and the crooked -catch the imagination of the reading public as few other themes do, and stories of remarkable horses have a special appeal. In this world of high drama and higher stakes, the elements of intrigue, corruption and even murder lurk constantly beneath the surface.

In recent years, the former jockey turned novelist, Dick Francis, has made racing thrillers his own preserve, but as he would be the first to admit, he is only following in a hugely popular tradition. At the close of the last century, writers like Nat Gould, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling were all writing tales of mystery about the race courses of the world, while the twentieth century has seen splendid examples of the genre from such authors as Edgar Wallace, Damon Runyan, Michael Innes, John Welcome and many more. All were lovers of the Turf, and their intimate knowledge gives the atmosphere of authenticity to their stories.

This collection, the first of its kind, brings together the best of these stories in a bumper volume spanning nearly 150 years and ranging over the world's major racing centres. Many of them have not previously appeared in an anthology and the opening story, by Dick Francis, is published in book form for the first time. Together they will provide hours of entertainment for the millions of readers captivated by this most charismatic of sports.
Subjects: English literature, Horse-racing, Literary collections, Detective and mystery stories