Dick Francis obituary | Sport | The Guardian Dick Francis obituary Champion jockey who became a bestselling thriller writer Dick Francis with Fard Du Moulin Mas, in Lambourn, Berkshire, 2004 Photograph: Rex Features Sunday 14 February 2010 11.53 EST First published on Sunday 14 February 2010 11.53 EST Share on Messenger Close Dick Francis, who has died aged 89, was a unique figure, a champion steeplechase jockey who, without any previous apparent literary bent, became an international bestselling writer, the author of 42 crime novels, selling more than 60m copies in 35 languages. Right from the start, with Dead Cert in 1962, the Dick Francis thriller showed a mastery of lean, witty genre prose reminiscent – sometimes to the point of comic parody – of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. It was an American style that many clever people in England had attempted to reproduce without much success, and it was a wonder how a barely educated former jump jockey was able to do the trick with such effortless ease.

People said his highly educated wife wrote the books for him. It was a mystery that was never satisfactorily solved. The most dramatic incident in his racing career was also a mystery. In the Grand National at Aintree in 1956, his mount Devon Loch, the Queen Mother's horse trained by Peter Cazalet, had jumped all the fences and, well ahead, only 50 yards from the finish, without another horse near him, suddenly collapsed and was unable to continue. Some said the horse had attempted to jump an imaginary fence; another theory, put up years later by Bill Braddon, Cazalet's head lad, was that the girth was too tight and the horse suddenly let loose an enormous fart. Braddon said he had tightened the girth just before the off, "one notch up and another for luck", without realising that Cazalet had already done it in the saddling enclosure. There was no question of Francis, like a crooked jockey out of one of his own books, having pulled the horse.

It had been his great dream since he was a lad of eight in 1928 and listened to the Grand National on the radio as Tipperary Tim won at 100-1, to be a steeplechase jockey and win that ultimate prize. Ironically, Devon Loch's melodramatic collapse in front of a roaring crowd cheering him to the finish has ensured Francis a place in the history of the race he would not have had if he had been merely another winner. Francis was champion jockey in the 1953-54 season. He rode the Queen's horses for Cazalet, the royal trainer, from 1953 until 1957. Some said he always rode like an amateur, and failed to have a really strong finish. He had indeed started as an amateur, going professional in 1948, but he was a masterful rider and a perfect size for a jump jockey, 5ft 8in and 10 stone. Only the great Fred Winter was a better chase jockey. In 1957 the Queen Mother sacked him.

The Marquess of Abergavenny, racing administrator and friend of the Queen Mother, summoned Francis to his flat near Hyde Park and told him it was time to stop racing. He suggested that Francis had suffered too many injuries in falls – he had dislocated his shoulder so many times that he had to be permanently strapped for the rest of his life – and should quit while he was ahead. Francis was shattered by this oblique dismissal by the Queen Mother, for whom he had a rather old-fashioned reverence. He asked what he was to do for a living. The Marquess said something always turned up. Francis had wept when Devon Loch fell and he wept again, walking away through Hyde Park. "I nearly flung myself into the Serpentine, I was so depressed," he said, years later. He wrote a racing column for the Sunday Express, but it paid only £20 a week, not bad for newspapers at the time but far less than he was used to earning. He said his wife, Mary, always read the copy before he delivered it on a Friday, and there was a story at the Express that once when she was ill he was unable to write the column and had to have it ghosted.

Other Express men said this was untrue. Francis was not a particularly good tipster, but he was rather brave in his attacks on the Jockey Club and the toffs of racing. He continued this in his thrillers. But his years at the Sunday Express did not make him love Fleet Street, and journalists were usually low, dishonest characters in his books. The Queen Mother, though, was a fan of his books. He always got a special first edition to her, and said he did not put in the usual sex and bad language of the genre because he knew the Queen Mother would be reading it; she did once complain about the violence. Born at Coedcanlas Farm in the Pembrokeshire village of Lawrenny, Francis came from a line of farming gentry and horsemen. His father was a show rider and manager of hunting stables, his grandfather a farmer and gentleman jockey. Uncles on both sides of his family were Masters of Foxhounds. The family home was a beautiful old farmhouse but it had neither gas nor electricity and was lit by candlelight.

He went to a one-class village school, attending on average only three days a week and riding the rest of the time, until the family moved to Maidenhead in Berkshire where his father was manager of a stable. Dick went to Maidenhead county boys' school, but his attendance was no better and he left at 15 to work for his father. At one time it was suggested that he should drink gin to keep him from growing so he could become a flat jockey, but his love was steeplechasing. He was also a successful show rider. When the war came, he joined the RAF as an aircraftman and served in the Western Desert before going to pilot training in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He never flew in combat, but he was a Spitfire and Hurricane pilot before being transferred to heavy bombers. His lack of schooling gave him trouble with navigation. In 1947, he married Mary Brenchley. A well-off middle-class girl whose main interest was the theatre, she was assistant stage manager at the Hereford Repertory Theatre at the time, and also worked as a publisher's reader. She could ride, but had no love of horses or racing.

The story goes that Dick and Mary went to see a murder mystery at the Oxford Playhouse and came away thinking they could do better. Be that as it may, Dick produced Dead Cert and gave it to Michael Joseph because he had ridden horses for the publisher. It is said that originally Francis wanted Mary's name on the book as co-author, but it was thought better business sense to have only Dick's. In his excellent unauthorised biography, Dick Francis: A Racing Life (1999), Graham Lord produces some telling circumstantial evidence that Dick could not have written the books without Mary. It was always acknowledged that she did much of the research for him, but Lord seemed to think it went further than that. The speculation may have arisen because Mary was a well-educated woman with a degree in French and English Literature from Royal Holloway College, London University. What is clear about the thrillers is that whoever wrote them had a wide knowledge of the American tough-guy school of detective fiction. Here a knowledge of French literature would seem to be no help, while 'tec stories and thrillers would perhaps be the sort of thing a steeplechase jockey would read.

The fact that when highbrow interviewers spoke of formalism and hermeneutics Dick did not know what they were talking about proves nothing. Hammett and Chandler would probably not have known either. Dick and Mary had a very close and happy marriage, spending seven months of the year travelling and researching, and five months writing the novels. Once Francis was under way, a book appeared every year in time for Christmas. They were all bestsellers, both in Britain and North America. By the end, in Britain alone each new book would sell 100,000 in hardback and 500,000 in paperback. Francis won several gold and silver dagger awards from the Crime Writers' Association and was given the Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding contribution to the genre. In the US he was made a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master. He was appointed OBE in 1984 and CBE in 2000. The books were unusual for bestsellers in the genre because Francis did not have a hero like Holmes or Poirot to win the love of the reader.

Only Sid Halley, an injured jockey turned detective, makes repeat appearances, in Odds Against (1965), Whip Hand (1979) and Come to Grief (1995). The Francis tales are told in the first person, and the hero/narrator, whether an ill-educated jockey or the son of an earl – Lord Henry Grey in Flying Finish (1966) – were always the same upstanding character, all men with a secret sorrow. When asked about his damaged heroes, Francis, in a rather marvellous throwaway line, said he had "to have something to fill up the pages". The plots, too, ran to a formula. Some reviewers protested that racing could not be as crooked as depicted in the Francis novels, but real life (as in the case of the Shergar kidnapping) came in to prove how realistic his stories were. As well as the thrillers, he wrote his autobiography, The Sport of Queens (1957), and Lester (1986), a biography of Lester Piggott. Francis became immensely rich.

Because of Mary's poor health – she had suffered from polio – and his many injuries, they fled English winters for Florida and then Grand Cayman in the British West Indies. Although surrounded by the super-rich, they continued a rather suburban lifestyle, and each year returned to the Radcliffe hotel in Paignton, Devon, for a family holiday. Mary died in 2000. Their two sons said they worked together "like Siamese twins conjoined at the pencil". As neither Dick nor Mary could type, perhaps there will be manuscripts among Dick Francis's effects that will show which one was the prime mover. After her death in 2000, when no new crime novels appeared, it looked as if Mary might have written them. But then, six years later, Francis came out of retirement to produce Under Orders, which had all the old Francis flavour. The next year, 2007, he published Dead Heat, then Silks (2008) and Even Money (2009). Much of the research for the novels was done by Francis's son Felix, who left his job teaching at Bloxham school in Oxfordshire to work for his father.

His other son, Merrick, was a racehorse trainer and then ran a horse transport business which was the background for the 1992 book Driving Force. They both survive him. • Richard Stanley Francis, jockey and writer, born 31 October 1920; died 14 February 2010 • This article was amended on 16 February 2010. The original referred to Graham Lord's unauthorised autobiography of Dick Francis. This has been corrected.

Dick Francis, former champion jockey who sold more than 60m books, dies in the Cayman Islands Published: 14 Feb 2010 Alison Flood: 'Chick lit for men' they may have been, but Francis's novels provided me with an exhilarating glimpse of another world Published: 15 Feb 2010 There was something utterly compelling about Dick Francis's thrillers – and at the age of 14 I was hooked, says John Crace Published: 15 Feb 2010 The author and former champion jockey Dick Francis has died aged 89 Published: 14 Feb 2010 BBC News - Author Dick Francis dies aged 89 Author Dick Francis dies aged 89 Francis wrote all of his novels in longhand Writer Dick Francis, famous for his horse racing-based crime novels, has died aged 89, his family has said. Francis, who wrote more than 40 best-selling novels during his career, was also champion jockey in the 1950s and the Queen Mother's jockey. He first published his autobiography in 1957, and his first thriller, Dead Cert, followed five years later.

Francis's most recent works, including Dead Heat and Silks, were co-authored by his son Felix. Literary accolades Mr Francis said he was "devastated" at the loss of his father, who produced a novel a year during his long career. "We share in the joy that he brought to so many over such a long life. It is an honour for me to be able to continue his remarkable legacy through the new novels," he added. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the Queen would be "saddened" by the news. Former racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan called him "a very good mate" and said: "I particularly enjoyed reading his novels and found him a wonderfully efficient author." Former jockey John Francome said: "He was a lovely person who always had a sparkle in his eye and he had a wicked sense of humour. "I remember we used to laugh out loud about the old times." Francis went on to sell some 60 million books worldwide and his novels were published into 20 languages. Looking back at the life of Dick Francis His works were also regularly featured in volumes of Reader's Digest condensed books. They were all written in the first person and were meticulously researched and written in longhand.

Francis went on to win numerous accolades for popular fiction in his genre, including Crime Writer's Association lifetime achievement award in 1996. He was awarded a CBE in 2000 for services to literature. During his racing career, Francis's most famous moment was when his horse, Devon Loch, fell when he was close to winning to 1956 Grand National. In 2006, Francis said of the famous incident: "It was a terrible thing but I look back on it now and I can say that if it hadn't happened I might never have written a book, and my books have certainly helped keep the wolf from the door." After he retired from the saddle, Francis was the Sunday Express racing correspondent for 16 years. He spent his final years in retirement in the Cayman Islands and his family said he "died of old age". A private funeral is due to be held in the Caribbean with a memorial service in London at a later stage, a spokesman added. The next novel co-written with his son is due to be published in the autumn.

Bookmark with: Dick Francis - The Complete List Dick Francis - the Complete List Compiled by Jane Beaumont Have you ever wondered whether you have read a particular Dick Francis novel, or which was the one about "....", or what else he has written? Most of the summary descriptions are extracted from publishers' notes. Any errors are my responsibility. Many of the titles are out-of-print but hard-back, paperback, large print and audio editions are available in public libraries. When this list was started in June 1997 there did not seem to be any Dick Francis web sites. Now there there is a ring of us to keep fans up to date, see below Please send suggestions and comments to: info@beaumont.ca Title Jockey turns private detective to solve the murder of his friend and fellow jockey. Nerve 1964 A young jockey is struggling to make his name but it looks as though he has lost his nerve - or has he? Odds Against 1965 The first Sid Halley book. Sid, champion jockey has to give up when his hand is smashed, so he turns to a new life as a private eye.

For Kicks Australian visitor goes undercover as a stable hand to solve a racehorse doping scandal Flying Finish 1966 A young aristocrat throws up a respectable job to join a firm which transports race horses all over the world. Blood Sport 1967 An encounter with a couple in punt leads investigator Gene Hawkins on a chase for lost horses across the United States. Forfeit 1968 Racing correspondent for a newspaper dedicated to exposing scandals in the noisiest way becomes involved in exposing a racing fraud while dealing with the problems of his marriage to a woman housebound by polio. Enquiry 1969 To a jockey losing his licence is the equivalent of being disbarred or struck off. Kelly Hughes is not guilty and with nothing left to lose he begins a search for the men who framed him. Rat Race Air taxi business for race goers featuring an in-the-air rescue sequence. Bonecrack 1971 At first the abduction at Newmarket seems to have no purpose as Neil Griffin is set free within hours. Then the threats of injury and extortion begin.

Smokescreen 1972 An actor goes to South Africa to solve a racing mystery for a friend and the result is villainy and intrigue more deadly than any of his films. Slay Ride 1973 Set in Norway's fjord country where an official of the English jockey club is sent to investigate the disappearance of steeplechase jockey. Knock Down 1974 Ex-jockey purchases a modestly priced horse for a commission and finds someone else is willing to kill to obtain the horse. High Stakes 1975 Steven Scott, wealthy toy maker and racehorse owner, sacks his trainer because he suspects he's a crook. The trainer threatens to sue Scott for slander if Scott tells anyone why he fired the trainer. Scott is viewed as the bad guy by the horse racing crowd for firing a trainer who had provided him with horses that won races . In The Frame 1976 Jockey turned portrait artist for horses becomes involved in solving the murder of his cousin's wife. Risk 1977 An amateur jockey, who is also a partner in an accounting firm, wins the Gold Cup and then he is abducted not once, but twice for no apparent reasons.

Trial Run 1978 A retired jockey is sent to Moscow on a delicate investigation involving royalty and the Moscow Olympics. Whip Hand 1979 Second Sid Halley novel - Sid outwits a sadistic bookie and chain-wielding goons during the investigation of a doping scandal. Reflex 1981 A jockey turns to photography as a career and becomes embroiled in the aftermath of the strange death of a racetrack photographer. Twice Shy Computer program containing bookie-breaking system is unintentionally given to a sharp-shooting physics teacher. Banker Merchant banker wants to invest in a prime stallion The Danger 1983 Finding kidnappers is the company's business. A girl jockey disappears, followed by the young child of a Derby winner, and the senior steward of the Jockey Club. Proof 1984 An unexplained accident during a Sunday morning party at a racing stable leads the wine merchant into solving the mystery. Break In 1985 Kit Fielding #1: Kit's twin sister is married to the son of Maynard Allardeck, who maintains a feud against the Fieldings, and their stables are the target of a smear campaign.

Bolt 1986 Kit Fielding #2: A princess is blackmailed, and his feud with Maynard Allardeck has once again intensified. Hot Money 1987 A millionaire's estranged, fifth wife is murdered and he turns to the son of one of his previous wives for help. The Edge Murder mystery on the Canadian transcontinental train. Straight 1989 Jockey's brother Greville dies mysteriously, and he inherits his business, gemstones, gadgets, enemies, horses and even his mistress. Longshot 1990 Author who has written six books on survival skills is commissioned to write the biography of a famous racehorse trainer. Comeback 1991 Diplomat returns to England and becomes embroiled in a racing mystery involving a veterinary surgeon with serious troubles. Driving Force 1992 Retired jockey, Freddie Croft, runs a fleet of transporters for race horses. One of his drivers picks up a hitch hiker and the firm becomes embroiled in a complicated conspiracy. Decider 1993 Architect builder, and father of six sons, is drawn into a family squabble to save the multi-million Stratton Park race course.

Wild Horses 1994 While making a film about racing in Newmarket, the director finds himself facing a dilemma of whether to reveal the truth which he learned from a deathbed confession. Come To Grief 1995 Sid Halley becomes convinced that one of his closest friends, and a well known television personality is behind a series of violent acts against horses To The Hilt 1996 Artist in Scotland has a quiet life until he returns home one day to find a group of strangers waiting for him. 10 lb penalty 1997 In practice, a 10-lb penalty is the maximum extra weight a winning thoroughbred is normally set to carry in a horse race. Ben Juliard discovers a 10-lb penalty can be a killer when he finds himself the target of his politician father's enemies. Fix the National and other racing stories ? Audio book - five short stories of racing world mysteries. Chief superintendent Crispin wanted the impossible. He had asked the stewards to fix the Grand National! Even if it meant catching the perpetrators of the Birmingham Bank robbery, could the Jockey Club sanction such a move, and how could they pull it off?

Field of 13 1998 Thirteen short stories, some old and included in the audio tape described above, and others new. Thirteen diverse characters from book-makers to news editors, from crooked lawyers to contract killers. Second Wind 1999 This time hurricanes and the men who chart and follow them are the theme of the book. The hero is Perry Stuart, a TV weatherman who, while chasing a hurricane, becomes embroiled in a storm of a very different sort (Globe and Mail, October 29, 1999) Shattered 2000 When a jockey dies following a fall in a steeplechase, he accidentally embroils his friend Gerry Logan, an artisan glassblower, in a perilous search for a stolen videotape.ï¿½ ï¿½.

Glass shatters.ï¿½ Logan doesnï¿½t ï¿½ but itï¿½s a close thing.ï¿½ (Dust jacket notes) Under Orders 2006 Sid Halley is drawn into investigation of three deaths, race fixing and internet gamblingï¿½ï¿½ ï¿½the darker side of the race game, in a life and death power play that will push him to his very limits ï¿½ both professionally and personally.ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½ (dust jacket notes) Dead Heat 2007 (with his son, Felix Francis) a restaurant owner gets into hot water when guests at a gala race course dinner become very ill with food poisoning. Silks 2008 (with Felix Francis) Geoffrey Mason, barrister, is also an amateur jockey.ï¿½ But when a fellow rider is brutally murdered the prime suspect is a champion jockey.ï¿½ Mason soon finds himself fighting a battle of right and wrong and more immediately a battle of life and death ... his own.

Even Money 2009 (with Felix Francis)ï¿½ Bookie Ned Talbot uncovers the truth about his father and becomes embroiled in a gambling scam.ï¿½ ï¿½This race may prove deadlyï¿½ If you want more information about publishers, dates, etc. try searching the Library of Congress catalogue at The Ottawa Public Library suggests if you like Dick Francis, why not try the following authors? Robart Barnard,ï¿½ E.X. Ferrars, John Francome, Michael Innes, Roderick Jeffries, Martin Russell, Douglas Rutherford, or John Wainwright ï¿½ copyright 2000-09ï¿½ Beaumont and Associates Inc. all rights reserved Most recent update: 30 October 2009 Dick Francis Dick Francis Overview The standard history of Dick Francis must mention that this Grand Master mystery writer officially began his sporting career after WW2 as an amateur jockey and retired in 1957 as the preferred jockey of the Queen Mum. In 1956 he came heart-breakingly close to winning the Grand National.

Upon retirement at the age of 36 he turned his attention to writing, beginning as the racing correspondent for a British daily. He released his first mystery novel in 1962 and turned out about one a year for almost four decades. Our handy-dandy Benét's Reader's Encyclopedia, 3rd ed. informs me that Francis' novels, long popular in England, became so in the U.S. after a 1980 television series based on his 1965 novel Odds Against . As stated above, Francis churned out novels at a one per year pace starting in 1962. However, about 3 weeks after the release of Shattered in 2000, Dick's wife Mary died of a heart attack at the couple's home in the Cayman Islands. Her death had a major impact on Dick's writing since she did a large part of the research and editing of the novels. Indeed, Dick Francis - A Racing Life, an unauthorized biography written by Graham Lord, alleged that she was the sole author.

Lord has built a specialty of sorts with unauthorized biographies of British authors, with works on John Mortimer (author of the Rumpole books) and Alf Wight (aka country vet James Herriot). Fans of the authors are usually quick to condem Lord's bios with allegations of shoddy research and a muckracking agenda. In any case, no Dick Francis books came out for 6 years following Mary's death until, in September of 2006, Under Orders was released. Wikipedia informs me that Dick's son Felix has taken over Mary's duties as research assistant. Perusing the reviews on amazon.com for the book shows that readers are in two camps: either you love it and are so happy that Dick Francis has returned or you hate it and implicitly agree with Graham Lord. Dead Heat was released in 2007 and included Felix as an official co-author. This practice is continued for subsequent novels. Francis' mysteries take place against a horse racing background and I suppose that initially I shied away from his books because of this. After all, I figured, how many times can you read about some jockey who is forced by circumstances to be an amateur private eye?

Luckily, however, I was wrong in my assumptions. While some of the novels (particularly the early ones) do have jockeys moonlighting as mystery solvers, many have lead characters who are involved with racing via more indirect capacities. In Reflex the hero is a photographer who shoots pictures of the racing life, in Driving Force the hero owns a horse transport firm, in Wild Horses the protagonist is a director of a film loosely based on a racing scandal and so on. Granted, some of these heroes are ex-jockeys, but that adds to the realism. There are two sequences of novels with recurring characters: the Sid Halley series ( Under Orders , Odds Against , Whip Hand & Come To Grief ) about a jockey turned full-time private eye and the consecutive novels which feature Kit Fielding ( Break In & Bolt ). Regardless of the particulars, most Dick Francis novels consist of a first person account of some criminal matter linked to horse racing. The protagonist is always brave, sensible and calm in the face of danger. With such constancy of characterization, Dick Francis novels might run the risk of becoming boring after you've read three or four.

After all, you know that the narrator, after getting in a couple of sticky situations, is going to have everything solved by the end of the book. And the mysteries aren't head-scratching, body-in-a-locked-room affairs either. But what saves the typical DF book is the fact that you're being introduced to a new environment. Part of the fun of reading Dick Francis is that often one is introduced to a new profession. Forget about the mystery; it's entertaining to peek inside the new world and learn a little something about banking or film making or British politics. For amusement, try reading Smokescreen and Wild Horses back to back; one has an actor as the leading man while the other has a director. In addition to the 39 novels, Francis also has written his autobiography The Sport of Queens and a biography of jockey Lester Piggot A Jockey's Life. The latter is also available as Lester: The Official Biography. Field of 13, a collection of short stories (five written for the book), came out in 1998. - wej This page is part of the Dick Francis WebRing, a collection of about a dozen sites.

Use the icon at the bottom of this page to navigate to the other sites in the ring. When reading the reviews, please keep in mind that I am not obsessed by DF: I don't participate in weekly chats about his novels, if in England I wouldn't bother to visit the settings for the books, etc. Being a tad more distant than others who have read all his books (and set up a web page!) means that I might not know some piece of trivia. On the other hand, I believe that my distance allows me to judge fairly and not hesitate in pointing out DF's failings. The novels are rated relative to each other on a scale of one to five horses. A one horse rating (i.e., ) indicates the novel is in the lower 20% of DF's output (in my opinion) and a five horse rating indicates one of DF's best. Note that the reviews and ratings are only for DF's solo work. The novels he has officially co-written with his son Felix are listed but not reviewed. Novel Dead Heat 2007 Chef Max Moreton has some problems. Many guests at a dinner he has catered are stricken with food poisoning.

His next gig, a racetrack luncheon, is ripped by a bomb that kills many guests. Are the events connected? Of course they are, but only Max can prove it. co-authored with Felix Francis Under Orders 2006 Sid Halley is back (making it the 4th time DF has written about the one-handed investigator) and he's investigating the murder of a jockey, the possible fixing of races and the workings of an internet gambling site. Could it all be related? Aaah, well at least it's better than Shattered . Sid has a new girlfriend and now the bad guys can threaten her instead of him but other than that it's all much the same: Sid snoops around, is chummy with his ex-father-in-law, gets into a precarious situation or two and eventually triumphs. Francis is again weak when delving into tecnological matters (why would anyone suspect an internet gambling site of fixing races when it's making money hand over fist running a legitimate business?) but overall it's an average novel. I guess I'm in the middle of the two camps mentioned in my introduction to this page; I don't hate it but am not overly excited either.

Shattered 2000 Successful glass blower Gerard Logan is friends with jockey Martin Stukely. Martin indirectly gives Gerard a videotape that becomes the object of an intensive search by a gang of bad guys. Gerard has to deal with the ruffians on his own because Martin has been killed in a racing accident. Gerard receives help from some unlikely quarters as he attempts to determine why the tape is so important. This probably will be the last DF novel (note, this was written in 2001) so it's disappointing that Shattered is a less than average story. There are holes in the plot large enough to ride a horse through (e.g., would the information that makes the videotape so valuable really be put on a videotape?), the primary villains are cartoonish and there are many instances in which we are asked to believe that glass blowing is so damn fascinating to all the secondary characters (see Proof for another example of the overemphasis of a character's profession). On the other hand, Shattered is not the absolute dud I was expecting based on DF's preceeding novel, the terrible Second Wind .

There are some good descriptions of the glass blowing process and we do get a sense of the mind of an artist who must also be a businessman. So, a lukewarm endorsement will have to do for this latest (and last?) Dick Francis novel. Second Wind 1999 TV weatherman Perry Stuart is near the top of his profession and is the prognosticator of choice for many trainers in the racing community. A colleague offers him the chance to take part in a hurricane chasing expedition in a small airplane. What Perry discovers on a mysterious island in the aftermath of the storm may well prove to be more dangerous than anything Mother Nature can toss at him. A major disappointment. This novel is full of hastily sketched characters and preposterous situations. The bad guys turn out to be involved in some international intrigues and, as the plot developed, I kept expecting to see SMERSH or SPECTRE enter the scene. This book's link to racing is tenuous at best and it relies too heavily on aviation (Francis' other great love) techno-babble. Coincidentally (?), the heroes of Second Wind and the almost-as-weak Twice Shy are physicists by training. As is Dick Francis' son Felix.

I'll leave the Freudian analysis to others. 10lb Penalty 1997 Seventeen year old Benedict Juliard is enlisted into the campaign efforts of his father as he contests a Parliamentary seat. Ben gets to know his father as they battle political opponents and avoid the occasional murder attempt. This is a very understated novel that has little to do with racing of the equine variety. Instead, the emphasis is on election techniques at the basic level: door-to-door canvassing, town hall debates and rubber chicken dinners. The obligatory horse connections come via Ben's efforts as an amateur jockey but the central mystery centers on who is trying to kill Ben's father. The plot proceeds with a noticeable lack of urgency; things proceed at their own pace and no one ever appears too excited. Despite this dearth of energy, 10lb Penalty is a better than average effort by Francis. To The Hilt 1996 About an hour after Al Kinloch learns that his stepfather has suffered a debilitating heart attack, he is pummeled by thugs who then ransack his spartan hut on a remote Scottish mountain.

Kinloch, the black sheep of an extended family headed by his uncle the Earl, paints pictures for a living and quite enjoys his remote way of life. But millions of pounds have been stolen from his stepfather's business, forcing Al's return to civilization. Attempting to save the business from its creditors, Al must confront a jealous family member and suspicious business associates while dodging assorted violent efforts. As in In The Frame , the hero this time is an artist and Francis describes the heartache and soul searching that goes into the creation of a portrait. Luckily for us, To The Hilt's plot is more believable than in the previous work. The link to horses comes into play as Al attempts to hide both his stepfather's horse and a valuable trophy. But the emphasis is on relationships and family honor - between Al and his stepfather, between Al and his technically-still-wife, between Al and his obsessive step-sister. While it doesn't have a strong horsey element, To The Hilt is an interesting novel that offers some insight into the artist's spirit and the problems of modern day nobility.

Come To Grief 1995 This third novel to feature one-handed private investigator Sid Halley focuses on the fallout that affects Sid after he accuses his friend (and television personality) Ellis Quint of a heinous crime. Through flashbacks, we learn of the series of events that force Sid to conclude that his friend has an ugly hidden side. Despite the evidence, however, Quint seems likely to get off. Likely, that is, unless Sid can determine why an unseen power is so anxious to have Quint judged innocent at Halley's expense. I've never been as enthralled by Sid Halley as other DF fans seem to be; while he's an interesting character for a book, by the third one I'm getting a little tired of his worrying that he'll lose his good hand (and, not coincidentally, I'm tired of villains who love to torture the good hand). I suppose that such tactics are instructive for the reader who has not read the two previous works ( Odds Against being Sid's debut, followed by Whip Hand ). That said, Come To Grief is an average effort for Francis with the flashbacks that take up the first half of the book proving superior to the sometimes stretched plot twists that follow.

Wild Horses 1994 Film director Thomas Lyon is shooting a movie loosely based on a 26 year old racing scandal when he accidentally learns of a secret that leads him into the mysteries of the past. Lyon tries to learn the truth about the scandal while juggling production hassles and a temperamental screenwriter. Francis pens some of his most purple prose in this one, with descriptions of wild horses running on a beach, dream sequences of mystery lovers and a continuously shot courtroom scene all allegedly causing mouths to fall open in awe. The depiction of life on a film set is technically believable; we learn as much as we want to about camera angles, lighting and lenses. But the complaining screenwriter scenario is implausible and the motivation behind villainous efforts to thwart Lyons is the old "let's try to scare off the movie maker and thus call attention to a 26 year old scandal". All the pluses and minuses sum up to an average Francis effort. Decider 1993 Architect/contractor Lee Morris gets sucked into the intra-family warfare concerning a race course. Navigating the turbulent family waters is complicated by the fact that he is connected by marriage to the combatants.

Simultaneous with working on the course facility and determining who is willing to kill in order to close the course, Morris must also make some major decisions about the direction of his personal life. My favorite Francis novel, primarily because we get immersed in a complex character. Parents of six sons, Morris and his wife stay together primarily for convenience & Morris does a fair amount of thinking about that. Perhaps Francis' most brooding work, Decider deals with tough issues of love, lust, parental responsibility and, dare I say it, the meaning of life. No dummy, Morris fully realizes that no matter how he raises his children, their personalities and fates are beyond his control. Yes, there're some nefarious goings on as well, with Morris narrowly evading death a couple of times, but ultimately the value of Decider lies in its examination of a human life and the choices that are presented to it. Driving Force 1992 Ex-jockey Freddie Croft owns a fleet of vans that transports race horses across the British Isles and the Continent. Two of his drivers pick up a hitchhiker who ends up dying in the truck.

It quickly becomes apparent that the hitcher wasn't quite what he seemed; Freddie must then figure out what is going on before he suffers the same fate as the hitchhiker. I got lucky in this, the first Dick Francis book I ever read. In terms of mystery it's probably Francis' best. Croft discovers that his vans are being used for smuggling purposes but the contraband is unknown. Clues are scattered throughout but only the most alert reader will have it all figured out before the finale. Local color is added via the use of a character's rhyming cockney slang (e.g., "what's the boil" translates into "what's the trouble" by way of boil and bubble). Francis doesn't ignore the human factor either; Freddie Croft and the rest of the cast are multi-dimensional. The aspirations and failings of all involved are believable and make for an intelligent read. Comeback 1991 Up and coming diplomat Peter Darwin takes a vacation back home in merry ole England. He is quickly entangled in an expanding scandal centering on a veterinary surgeon's practice gone bad.

Peter finds that it's a short step from race horses dying on the operating table to the loss of human life and he must call upon childhood memories to assist him in determining who wants to drive the vet out of business. Once you achieve the appropriate "suspension of disbelief" Comeback is a strong novel with a nice mix of mysterious motives and entertaining characters. The suspension part is necessary because the whole story line is so dependent on Peter recalling bits and pieces from his past; you expect me to believe that this guy and his memories appear at just the crucial moments to foil the plot? O.K., I'll suspend. On the plus side Peter does have a pickup line which works 100% of the time (o.k., he uses it once): "How about a bonk, then?" Longshot 1990 John Kendall is an author of travel/survival guides who aspires to be a novelist. Needing money to pay the bills, he agrees to write the biography of a racehorse trainer. Of course there are skeletons in the family closet and as Kendall begins to uncover them he must utilize his survival skills to the fullest.

The happenings in Longshot are all rather slick: Kendall immediately makes use of his survival skills in the aftermath of an auto accident, he easily slides into the role of family cook and novice rider, he is consulted by the police for his opinions on a murder and so forth. Despite all that, Longshot is an above-average Francis novel owing to the natural way that the mystery (focusing on the disappearance and murder of a female stable "lad") unfolds. There's enough behind-the-scenes coverage of racing and the training profession to keep horse enthusiasts entertained and the eventual resolution of the crime is believable enough to keep mystery lovers satisfied as well. Straight 1989 Two days after breaking an ankle, steeplechase jockey Derek Franklin is informed that his older brother Greville has been critically injured in an accident. When Greville dies without ever regaining consciousness, Derek finds that he must (temporarily) take over his semiprecious stone importing business. Derek soon finds that among the facets of his late brother's life are a couple of race horses, a mistress and a habit of keeping as much as possible secret. Oh, and about a million and a half dollars of missing diamonds. Classic Francis.

There's the immersion into another profession, there's a logical mystery, there's some racing thrown in and there's even a bit of reflective melancholy as Derek grieves for the brother that he never really knew. The only weak point could've been with Greville's fascination for electronic gadgets such as the forerunner of today's PDAs; Francis sometimes becomes over-enthusiastic over items that should be background filler. However, in this case the fascination with gadgets doesn't seem forced but actually advances the story line. The Edge 1988 Tor Kelsey works undercover for the British Jockey Club's security branch. He's on the trial of Julius Filmer, a villain who uses blackmail and intimidation to acquire ownership of racing horses. Following Filmer onto The Great Transcontinental Mystery Race Train, a trans-Canada junket for horse owners, Tor must prevent further trouble while working against a backdrop of an extended dinner theater mystery. When I first started reading this I was thinking that I would be reminded of Murder On The Orient Express. Not the case; although there's a bunch of rich people on a train the focus isn't on any locked-door mystery, it's on....what exactly?

There's not a lot of dramatic tension between undercover op Kelsey and bad guy Filmer, chiefly because Filmer isn't even aware of Kelsey's existance. For the most part Kelsey is in an observer mode and for the most part Filmer doesn't do too much. True to life but not exciting reading. Hot Money 1987 On the day he quits his job as an assistant trainer, amateur jockey Ian Pembroke gets a call from his estranged father Malcolm. Malcolm is immensely rich and he thinks somebody is trying to bump him off. The police aren't of the same opinion; since Malcolm remains a top suspect in the murder of his fifth wife the coppers think Malcolm is making it all up. It doesn't take long for Ian to come round to his father's way of thinking and he then takes on the role of bodyguard while trying to figure out which member of the extended family is a murderer. DF brought his version of "who shot J.R.?" to the printed page 6 years after the television series posed the question. With ex-wifes, assorted offspring and in-laws all in the picture there is not a shortage of suspects.

There's a small table itemizing the Pembroke clan at the beginning of the novel but typical readers won't have the inclination to refer to it; most readers will let the offspring become a blur of miserable adults whining about not having enough income from their trust funds (except for non-whining Ian, of course). It's all satisfactory enough, I suppose, but it would have been nice to have a couple of sharp, nasty suspects in the mix. Bolt 1986 Kit Fielding returns in this story of an extortionist who is turning the screws on Princess Casilia's family. The princess, in addition to owning the champion horses that Kit rides, is the aunt of Kit's main squeeze Danielle. While battling the extortionist Kit finds himself allied with his chief rival for Danielle's affections. This followup to Break In is a weaker effort focusing on Kit's relationship with Danielle rather than any sort of intricate mystery. We know who the bad guy is from the beginning and there are no great surprises in store as the bad guy does his evil bit and Kit eventually saves the day.

The majority of the novel I was wondering exactly what Kit and Danielle see in each other; Danielle's interests are much more in line with those of Prince Litsi (the rival) and Kit seems to be a sap (but a noble sap, of course). It would have been more interesting if Kit had another option on the romance front as well; then DF could've ended Bolt with a cat fight or something. Break In 1985 Champion jockey Kit Fielding is almost telepathically close to his twin sister Holly. So he naturally agrees to help out when she asks for his assistance in determining who is out to disgrace her racehorse trainer husband Bobby Allardeck; it seems someone has been planting stories in gossip columns. However, it turns out that there's more than just a little rumor spreading afoot and Kit must be careful to keep his name out of the obituary column. You get the feeling that, of all the Dick Francis heroes, Kit Fielding is the one he'd most like to be.

Certainly he (Kit) has it all going on: he's at the peak of his profession, able to gain the confidence and respect of all (all except for the bad guys, of course) and starts a relationship with a beautiful and intelligent woman. There's even the legacy of an age-old quarrel to spice things up: the Fieldings and Allardecks have been at each other's throats with a ferocity that puts the Montague-Capulet thing to shame. No wonder that Francis immediately penned a sequel. Break In is also strong in its racing scenes; if there had been a little bit more thought to the plot then this one would be among DF's very best. As is, it's pretty damn good. Proof 1984 Wine merchant & caterer Tony Beach is present at an outdoor gala when an 'accident' takes the lives of many guests including a horse owning Arab Sheik. And thus begins Tony's envelopment in a case of counterfeit liquors and murder. Once in a while DF goes overboard with the whole "let's look behind the scenes of a specialized profession" thing. The danger in his approach lies in the over-emphasis of the profession and its place in the world.

In the case of Proof we are asked to believe that the troubles of the world would just go away if we all had a bottle of a good Rioja. The blurbs on the cover of the Fawcett Crest edition that I read lead me to suspect that the copywriters were swilling too much of the vino themselves: "Fake scotch and foul murder test the strength of one man's spirit"!! Oh well, reading this one was a little bit educational since DF does discuss the origin of the term "proof"... The Danger 1983 Andrew Douglas, a specialist in kidnap negotiations, watches helplessly as local cops bungle the ransom drop in a case involving a female Italian jockey. Working behind the scenes, Douglas strives to keep the girl safe while assisting her family in dealing with the stressful situation. After the Italian kidnapping is resolved, Douglas becomes involved in other cases and a pattern emerges: the mastermind behind the kidnappings is cool, logical and linked to the racing world. It's up to Douglas and his colleagues to stop him. Upon my first reading of The Danger I thought it an average Francis effort but a second reading led to my opinion being revised downward.

I didn't mind very much during either reading that narrator Douglas is rather briefly sketched, leading to a lack of empathy on the part of the reader. But on the second reading I started noticing (and was bothered by) Douglas' lack of professionalism, chiefly in his establishing a post-rescue romance with a kidnapee. Stereotypical supporting characters such as the ex-SAS man who is Andrew's colleague also get to be annoying. Although The Danger predates it by some six years, a comparison with Frederick Forsyth's The Negotiator is inevitable; Francis comes out the loser in that contest. Banker 1982 A merchant banker on his way up the corporate ladder, Tim Ekaterin has agreed to lend a lot of money to a horse breeder in order to acquire the prize winning race horse Sandcastle. All starts off well but of course it doesn't stay well.... Banker develops rather slowly over a period of almost three years; with my relatively brief description I've tried to avoid the mistake that the publishers made in giving away plot points that don't occur until late in the novel.

Let me just say that the mystery is highly satisfactory, Tim's romantic life takes an unexpected twist or two and you learn a lot about the making of babies. Baby horses, that is... Twice Shy 1981 This is a dual narrative novel focusing on a computer program that can win bets at the track and the bad guys who want it. Physics teacher (and Olympic marksman) Jonathon Derry is the first narrator; once he is given the program he must determine what it is and then, more importantly, what to do with it. The dual narrations are separated by some fifteen years; this interesting technique is the source of some major problems when reading because the computer technology is not updated at all in the novel (e.g., the program is still being loaded via cassette tapes a dozen years after the PC revolution). Even if this novel were updated I'd still have some problems with it; the bad guys are stereotypes, they're dealt with too easily and the novel's ending is pat. The first part of the novel does foreshadow some of the relationship themes later developed in Decider . Reflex 1980 Philip Nore's profession is that of a jockey; his hobby is photography.

So he turns out to be the only one who can tie together all the loose ends that arise after the death of a racetrack photographer. Seems that the departed had a penchant for blackmail and Philip soon discovers secrets that perhaps should be left hidden. As in Proof DF puts too much emphasis on technical details in this one; the explanation of color mixing (yellow + cyan = green, etc.) made me think a color wheel was lurking on the next page and I eventually just skimmed through whenever techno-babble arose. In this book there is also the added distraction of Philip's search (by request of his hated grandmother) for a sister he never knew he had. Actually, Reflex seems to be a whole collection of distractions in 295 pages - there's not a unifying message or motif behind it all. Which is fairly typical for Francis (and I'm not complaining!) but there was some eyebrow arching when I read the liner notes comparing Reflex to the works of John Le Carré and Graham Greene. Whip Hand 1979 Sid Halley, the ex-jockey, now private investigator last seen in Odds Against , is now relatively resigned to the fact that he now has an artificial hand.

The new electro-plastic mechanism doesn't seem to be slowing him down, either, as he simultaneously takes on cases involving corruption at the highest levels of the Jockey Club, the puzzling performances of a trainer's top horses and a con man's ensnarement of Sid's ex-wife. It's rather unusual that a mystery writer would let so much time lapse between publication of novels centering on the same character. But that's the case with the Sid Halley series; the three novels came out every 15 years or so. So why did DF decide to revisit Sid Halley? A cynic would say that Francis was trying to end a losing streak: 6 of the 7 novels prior to Whip Hand are rated as below average on the reliable horse-o-meter. A romantic would say that DF simply wanted to continue the story of a fascinating character (which begs the question of why he waited a decade and a half). Whatever the reason, Whip Hand is a strong novel that even has a bit of uncharacteristic non-heroic behavior by the narrator.

Update, AUG 04 - Thanks to reader Jonathan Sheen who points out that DF brought back Sid because "A British TV network -- I think it was Channel 4, rather then the BBC, ran a TV series called 'The Racing Game' that featured adventures of Sid Halley. Francis was taken by the program, and the actor who played Sid, and that inspired him to write another." This information is apparently in the dedication of Whip Hand. Trial Run 1978 Randall Drew, ex-amateur steeplechase jockey, is asked by a high ranking royal personage to determine whether a relative should be allowed to compete in the upcoming Moscow Olympics. It seems that the royal relative has gotten mixed up in a potentially embarassing scandal. As a result, a certain Alyosha in Moscow is less than happy and has promised to extract revenge. Drew eventually agrees to go to Moscow to poke around.

There're a lot of weak plot elements in Trial Run: Drew seems to be awfully well off for being a farmer, he manages to get information from Russians left and right (this is explained as being part of the "bond of horses") and there is generally a lot of waltzing unimpeded through the streets of Moscow. This book also doesn't have too much of a horse connection; one could make Drew an ex-rower without changing very much of the story. I think what saves this book from being an absolutely horrid effort are the exotic locations (exotic relative to the usual foggy hills of England) and a well thought out solution to the mystery. Risk 1977 An hour after amateur jockey and professional accountant Roland Britten unexpectedly wins the Cheltanham Gold Cup, he is abducted and held in isolation. Eventually making his escape, Britten must determine why someone wants him out of circulation. Risk is standard Dick Francis fare with a noble hero escaping from sticky situations with body bruised but pride intact, a plot which stretches thin in places but eventually wraps up neatly and the usual love interest. As said, this is nothing special by DF standards but that in itself makes for an entertaining novel.

In The Frame 1976 The hero/narrator this time is Charles Todd; he's a painter whose cousin's wife has just been murdered during a burglary. When Todd comes across another possible burglary he is not suspicious until he learns that both cases had Australian connections. Coincidence? Perhaps, perhaps not...Todd heads to the Land Down Under to figure it all out. This is another one which starts out strongly (the body of the murdered woman is described in clinical details) but eventually bogs down in its own improbabilities. Once in Australia Todd hooks up with an old college chum & the chum's new wife and then they're off on one zany adventure after another. In most mysteries the hero manages a miraculous escape from the bad guys; In The Frame has about two miracles too many. High Stakes 1975 Steven Scott, a successful inventor of mechanical toys, gives the sack to the trainer of his hurdler Energize. In public Scott is seen as an ungrateful owner uncaring about the little man. The non-public reason for the sacking is that the trainer has been systematically fleecing Steven for years.

But the trainer does not go gently into the good night & Steven must enlist new allies in an attempt to recover his horse and honor. Middle of the pack Francis. The hero is cut from the usual cookie cutter mold, the new allies are duly impressed by Scott's resourcefulness and the plot skirts but never descends into unbelievability. Well, there is an element or two that seems rather far-fetched (when the deceived deceive the deceivers, got it?) but that's classic DF - if you don't like it then don't start reading. Knockdown 1974 Jonah Dereham is an independent bloodstock agent. He is engaged by a rich American woman to buy a horse for the son of her boyfriend. All goes normally until Jonah is attacked after the purchase and forced to relinquish the horse. It turns out that the attack was only the opening salvo in this story of crooked characters in the world of horse purchasing. This novel started out well enough, with the mysterious attack and a selection of interesting characters including Jonah's alcoholic brother, the rich American, her richer intended and his rebellious son.

But Knockdown loses steam about halfway through; there's little followup on the interesting characters, the plot becomes a little bit too far-fetched and the novel degenerates into a series of examples of scams. The cover to my paperback edition (published by Pocket) is one of the ugliest and most inappropriate that I've seen of late; it hints at a work by Piers Anthony, not Dick Francis. Slayride 1973 David Cleveland, Chief Investigator of the Jockey Club (Great Britain), is asked to provide assistance in the case of a British jockey who apparently has made off with the receipts from a Norwegian racecourse. Cleveland finds that more than the local diet is fishy as he delves into a scheme that involves beatings, bombs and murder. I'm not really sure why I don't have Slayride ranked higher. The plot proceeds along well enough, at least until the final fifth or so of the novel. It all sort of falls apart at that point but I already wasn't thrilled by the book. What's the reason for my lack of enthrallment?: not enough racing? stereotypical characters? my heretofore latent hatred of all things Norwegian?

Well, maybe it's the title. Obviously the product of some over-eager editor's desire to have a snappy short title that relates somehow to Scandinavian winters, Slayride instead only conjures up images best left to Stephen King. Smokescreen 1972 Movie actor Edward Lincoln is asked by an old friend to find out why the horses in her South African stable are no longer winning. In the course of his investigation he encounters real life-or-death situations deep inside a gold mine and on the sun-baked South African veldt. Quite by coincidence, I bought and read my copy of this book while waiting for a connecting flight at the international airport in Johannesburg. As a travel guide to South Africa, Smokescreen is quite useful. I quickly learned why, despite my visit in mid-summer, it wasn't terribly hot in Jo-burg (its 6000 ft elevation). And the descriptions of the workings of the gold mine and the workings of a motion picture are well done. Unfortunately, the rest of the book is lacking in both suspense and plausibility. Not to give anything away, but it is difficult to believe that the villain could put Lincoln in all those life-or-death situations.

My edition of the novel has a "brand new introduction by the author"; I'm not sure if it was written post-apartheid but Francis uses it to give some background on his 1971 visit to the country and to stress that political matters are not addressed. Bonecrack 1971 When a serious auto accident sidelines his father, business analyst Neil Griffon is temporarily in charge of the training of some 85 horses including the Derby favorite. Which means that, when a ruthless crime lord decides he wants his son Alessandro to ride on the Derby winner, the best way to achieve such an end is to kidnap Neil & threaten him with the destruction of the stables unless sonny is given the ride. At the beginning of Bonecrack there's a little map of the village in which it takes place; because of it, my first thoughts were that the novel was going to be a whodunit alá Agatha Christie. Note to worry, Bonecrack is simpler than that.

The focus is on father-son relationships: the haughty wannabe jockey's love/fear relationship with his crime boss dad, Neil's hate/apathy feelings towards his father & the brother/mentor/father relationship that develops between Alessandro and Neil. Everything that happens is fairly predictable but Bonecrack is highly enjoyable for all that. Rat Race 1970 Life has kicked pilot Matt Shore around a bit; an acrimonious divorce and a gradual decline in his career have reduced him to living in a trailer and counting every penny. There's no shortage of suspects when Shore and his four race going air taxi passengers narrowly avoid death via a bomb; it's up to Matt to determine who wants whom dead. One of several DF novels with an aviation background, Rat Race takes us behind the scenes of a air taxi service. The depiction of Shore's decidedly non-glamorous life is well done and there's a bunch of other interesting characters (a stereotypical hippie is not so interesting as he goes around looking for some free love). The general outline of the mystery isn't too hard to discern but trying to figure out the details proved to be beyond my capabilties.

Overall, Rat Race is a continuation of the above average DF works of the late '60s. Enquiry 1969 We learn through flashbacks that narrator Kelly Hughes and trainer Dexter Cranfield have just lost their licenses; an enquiry panel was of the opinion that Kelly had held back his odds-on favorite and let another Cranfield-trained horse win. However, there was enough inconsistent behavior exhibited by the panel that Kelly believes he was set up. He then attempts to clear his name and nab a villain. Enquiry works despite the old jockey-turned-sleuth story structure. Perhaps it works because Kelly makes a fair number of mistakes in his investigating; he does not suddenly discover that he's a latent Sam Spade. Enquiry is believable every step of the way, from the feelings of self-blame at the enquiry to the descriptions of the governors of racing to the investigative trail taken by Kelly. So yes, the amateur sleuth story line works out quite well in this case, one of Francis' best. Forfeit 1968 James Tyrone, sports writer for a Sunday newspaper, hears the drunken confession of fellow writer Burt Chekov: Chekov has apparently been writing his column according to the dictates of a blackmailer.

Burt dies an "accidental" death shortly afterwards. Tyrone quickly determines that Chekov's column was being used as part of a betting swindle. As he leads his paper's effort to stop the swindlers, the married Tyrone must also wrestle with his own conscience as he pursues an affair. There are two aspects of Forfeit that lead to it being one of the top Francis novels I have read: a plausible storyline linked to racing and a narrator with more to offer than the usual oh-so-noble Francis hero. A racing-related plot is, of course, a requirement for a superior Francis effort. But the multi-faceted James Tyrone is a definite (and welcome) change of pace. Although his motivations are different, Tyrone's infidelity has its counterpart in a few other Francis novels such as Decider and Twice Shy . But the actions in Forfeit are on another level entirely; there's even a sex scene! Sex in a Dick Francis novel? Oh yeah, it was the 60s, man...... Blood Sport 1967 Enter Gene Hawkins, suicidal spy catcher who is asked to track down a missing horse.

After initially refusing the request, Gene changes his mind after he foils a murder attempt directed against the horse's owner. The search leads to the U.S. and Gene soon learns that certain types of outlaws are still on the loose in the Wild, Wild West. Why does Gene sleep with a Luger under his pillow? To defend himself against enemies or to provide a daily test of his will to live? What started Gene on the road to depression - was Gene's pregnant wife killed by a drunk driver?, was Gene's only child kidnapped as an infant & never returned?, was Gene's collection of Picasso drawings damaged by mildew? Nah, it turns out that things didn't work out between Gene and the love of his life. Big deal. There's some mild philosophizing on the meaning of life in Blood Sport; surely a weak plot and a hero that feels all too sorry for himself can't be part of the answer. Flying Finish 1966 Henry Grey has a desk job at a bloodstock agency and rides as an amateur jockey when he can. Sounds like an uncomplicated existence until you learn that he's also a weekend pilot and an earl in waiting.

Henry soon gets a new job at a firm that transports horses via air and it doesn't take him long to notice that there's some shady business going on. Was it Chekov who noted that, if a gun is on stage during the first act of a play, it must be fired before the play's conclusion? No matter, the analogy here is that the reader figures out pretty quickly that Henry is going to get into some trouble and he's going to have to fly his way out of it. The plot of Flying Finish is strong enough with a logical explanation behind all the shady business and a realistic level of ruthlessness displayed by the villains. This book was voted as the favorite DF novel in a poll on one of the other sites in the Dick Francis Webring. Odds Against 1965 Ex-champion jockey Sid Halley is an operative for a detective agency; two years previously he had been in a steeplechase accident that left him with a crippled hand and little desire to get on with his life. Still recovering from a gunshot wound, Sid investigates the hostile takeover of a racecourse. The bad guys are quite willing to use brutal methods and Sid finds himself on the receiving end more often than not.

As Odds Against opens narrator Sid Halley is in a hospital bed, recovering from a ".38 slug of lead which made a pepper shaker out of [his] intestines" and "left [him] with fire in [his] belly in more ways than one." Thankfully, that's about it for the Mickey Spillane and the majority of the book is spent following Sid's slow return to a state of self-respect. The plot line is well-thought out and the comic-book depiction of evil characters is forgiveable (although we do get started on the old "let's torture Sid by stomping around on his hand" routine that gets tiresome by the 3rd Halley book, Come To Grief ). For Kicks 1965 Daniel Roke, a young owner of an Australian stud farm, agrees to go undercover in England and investigate a horse-doping scandal. Although the monetary rewards are great, Daniel's motivations for accepting the task lie mostly in his feelings of confinement brought on by his many responsibilities. Once in England Daniel must overcome his natural instincts and portray an unsavory stable lad who is open to underhanded offers. One of Francis' best.

The mystery is first rate and Francis' depiction of the working lives of the stable lads rings with authenticity. Although not its focus, For Kicks has a straight forward treatment of sex that I found surprising (considering when it was written). Incidentally, it wasn't until two days after I had finished the book that I figured out the meaning of the cover of my paperback edition (published under the Fawcett Crest banner). A good thing too, since the cover gives away the mystery. Nerve 1964 It's tough to be a jockey: you might shoot yourself on the racecourse, you might have your career ruined because of allegations of passing on insider information, you might get a reputation for habitual tardiness, you might be thought of as someone who has lost his nerve due to an accident..... But it's all part of the racing game, isn't it? I mean, there couldn't be a conspiracy afoot, could there? Rob Finn, the nervous one, figures it all out. Francis' second novel has the same basic themes as the first: clear-headed jockey forced to turn detective, the love interest who resists his advances, an evil presence that's behind seemingly unrelated incidents.

But the plot is a little bit less believeable this time and the romance is, to my innocent eyes, positively creepy (Rob has the hots for his first cousin). If Dick Francis had continued down this road then he'd be regarded as a hack. Lucky for us, Francis soon figured out how to transcend such formulaic writing.

Question: Dick Francis wrote novels based in what environment?
Answer: Horse racing