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Dick Francis

Felix Francis

DICK FRANCIS was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys and author of forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), the biography of Lester Piggott and his own autobiography (The Sport of Queens). He was rightly acclaimed as one of the greatest thriller writers in the world. 
 
 Since his death, his son FELIX FRANCIS has taken over the literary reigns from his father and Dick's legacy lives on through the Dick Francis novels. The Francis flair is clear for all to see in these national treasure thrillers, and readers will appreciate the sporadic reappearance of beloved series characters Sid Halley and Jeff Hinkley.

Royal Ascot's first day, and bookmaker Ned Talbot watches helplessly as a string of favourites come in. With the punters totting up their winnings, he counts his losses. Then an old man steps forward with a very different claim. The father Ned never knew - long ago believed killed in a car crash - is standing before him. 
 
Barely an hour later, Ned's newly-found father is dying in Ascot's car park. Stabbed by an unknown assailant, he warns Ned 'be very careful'. But of whom? Of what? 
 
Ned races to discover the truth behind his father's disappearance and sudden reappearance. It's not just money on the line now. It's lives.

Even Money

When inventor Steven Scott abruptly fires his winning trainer Jody Leeds, the racing world is shocked and disgusted - though not quite as angry as Leeds, who swears revenge on his former friend. 
Now, Steven is not only in fear of losing everything - but also his life. Somehow, he must prove to the world that Leeds is a vicious crook - or die trying.

High Stakes

Just after learning that his stepfather is gravely ill, artist Al Kinloch, returning to his remote home in the Scottish Highlands, is attacked by four men. They ask one question - 'where is it?' - then leave him for dead. 
 Baffled and hurt, Al visits his stepfather and learns millions of pounds are missing and a valuable racehorse is under threat. Roughed up already, Al decides he has nothing to lose getting to the bottom of this. 
 Unfortunately, the thugs who beat him up and the person behind them will make sure that Al doesn't survive their next encounter...

To The Hilt

When Sir Richard Stewart, the racing authority chairman, demands Sid Halley investigates suspicious race results, he receives a firm no. Halley retired years ago, swearing he'd never go back. 
 
But then Sir Richard is found dead and Halley receives a threatening call from a man insisting he investigates the alleged race-fixing. Halley wants to steer clear, but when his young daughter goes missing he realizes he may pay the ultimate price. 
 
With his family in danger, how can Sid refuse? Extreme situations demand extreme solutions and Sid will do anything to get his life back, or die trying.

Refusal

&lsquo;I wondered if I was dying. I wasn&rsquo;t afraid to die but, such was the pain in my gut, I wished it would happen soon.&rsquo; 
 
The night before the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a prestigious black-tie Gala dinner. It is a fitting testament to the glamour of the occasion that top chef Max Moreton is cooking the evening&rsquo;s meal. 
 
Max is something of a celebrity in Newmarket circles. He is founder of the racing town&rsquo;s favourite Michelin-starred restaurant, the Hay Net. However, spending the night retching in the throes of agony is the last thing Max expects. But much worse is to come...his food is suspected of putting twenty-four of the dinner guests in hospital. Max&rsquo;s pride and professionalism tells him all is not as it seems. 
 
Within hours, Max&rsquo;s restaurant is forcibly closed, his reputation teeters on the brink of ruin, and a court case looms. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself desperately fighting for more than just his livelihood... 
 
Dead Heat is the latest searing, intrigue-filled blockbuster from the Grand Master of thriller writing.

Dead Heat

Diplomat Peter Darwin is returning to his childhood home: Gloucestershire. But instead of a pleasant trip down memory lane, Peter finds himself coming to the aid of a veterinary surgeon whose operating theatre is rapidly turning into an abattoir. 
 
A string of valuable race horses have suffered unexplained deaths and the police are baffled. When Darwin looks into the mystery he finds that his connections - and his memories - help him uncover criminal activities that stretch back all the way to his childhood. 
 
But the more Darwin uncovers, the closer he gets to a killer who just can't stop.

Comeback

This is a brilliant collection of thirteen short stories, written by the Master of Crime. Although some of the stories have been published before, all but one of them have had a very limited circulation and the vast majority of Dick Francis fans will be reading them for the first time. Ranging from the National Hunt Festival at Cheltenham to Churchill Downs in America, each of the stories contains an array of five-star Dick Francis characters, a brilliant plot to marvel over and an ingenious sting in the tail to gasp over.

Field of Thirteen

Short Stories

'Admiral met the fence perfectly. He rose to it as if flight were not only for birds. And he fell.' 
 
Alan York's friend, jockey Bill Davidson, was killed in Admiral's fall. After the race, York visits the fence and discovers a coil of wire lying beside the fence post and signs of where the wire had been attached. 
 
The fall was no accident - but murder. 
 
Unable to convince the police of this, York is forced to turn amateur sleuth and is soon on the trail of a ruthless gang of race-fixers.

Dead Cert

Edward Lincoln has scaled the Himalayas, survived car chases and defeated scores of assassins. As a movie action man he's even suffered stoically at the hands of sadistic directors. 
 
After finishing his latest film, he visits South Africa to discover why a dying friend's horses are suddenly failing on the race track. Lincoln's attempt to help a friend soon puts him in harm's way. From a nearly fatal interview to a dangerous accident in a gold mine, it seems only luck is keeping him alive. 
 
And in life, unlike the big-screen, there's no coming back from dead . . .

Smokescreen

Jockey Philip Nore knows all too well what it's like to fall from a horse, to feel the wrath of owners and trainers, to not always be a winner. 
 
 George Millace hated winners. As a photographer he specialized in exposing the failings of riders. Now he's dead - and no one seems very sorry. 
 
 But after Millace's home is broken into, Nore finds something unexpected. Millace had other pictures - ones people are desperate to possess. 
 
 Now Nore must discover who wants them - and fast. Because if George Millace's death was no accident then his killers are getting closer.

Reflex

Captain Thomas Forsyth's tour of Afghanistan is cut brutally short when he is badly wounded by a roadside bomb. 
 
Returning home, to his mother - a racehorse trainer and the 'First Lady' of racing - Tom discovers the training business is on the edge, and facing a threat far more dangerous than a run of bad form. 
 
Tom finds himself on a very different, but just as deadly, battlefield where his military skills are tested . . . kill or be killed?

Crossfire

Tony Beach will do anything for a quiet life. But when a party to celebrate the end of the racing season ends in eight violent deaths, he is drawn reluctantly into the subsequent investigation. 
 Meanwhile, the police, having evidence of the sale of illicit alcohol at a local club, ask for Tony's help in closing it down. Thanks to his intervention, Tony comes to the attention of the criminal underworld. 
 And that's when he reluctantly realizes that the deaths and the illicit alcohol are connected. 
 Tony doesn't want to be a hero. But if the choice is that or dying...

Proof

Perry Stuart, TV meteorologist, chiefly predicts periods of English drizzle, with bursts of heavier rain and sunshine to follow. His life calm and ordered, his face familiar to every British household, Stuart&rsquo;s profound weather knowledge and accuracy have given him high status among forecasters, but no physical baptism by storm. 
 
Not, that is, until a fellow forecaster offers him a Caribbean hurricane-chasing ride in a small aeroplane as a holiday diversion. By frightening accident, Stuart learns more secrets from the flight than wind speeds &ndash; and back home in England he faces threats and danger as deadly as anything that nature can evolve. 
 
&lsquo;Second Wind&rsquo; is a twisting spiralling hurricane of a thriller that will defy anyone to treat the weather as an everyday topic of conversation.

Second Wind

Jeff Hinkley, undercover investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, is looking into the shady activities of a racehorse trainer. Tailing his quarry through the Cheltenham Racing Festival, Jeff unexpectedly is witness to a gruesome murder. Could it be connected to the trainer's recent ban for administering illegal drugs to his horses? 
 
Days later, more horses test positive for prohibited stimulants, a scandal that could throw horse-racing into disrepute. To limit the damage to the sport, it's critical that Jeff find the perpetrator . . . but he'll soon learn he's up against someone who will stop at nothing to prevail.

Damage

Pilot Matt Shore now spends his days ferrying high-class passengers between English race courses. one eventful trip ends with his plane exploding in a ball of fire, Matt knows he's not that unlucky. 
 
When the police confirm it was a bomb, Matt realises he has a problem. One of his passengers must have been the target - the question is who? 
 
Matt to find out fast - because he's scheduled to ferry the same people over the coming weeks. 
 
Can Matt stay alive long enough to stop the bomber?

Rat Race

Amateur jockey Lord Henry Grey decides on a whim to join the bloodstock market, transporting racehorses around the world. And when he meets the glamorous Gabriella in Italy, he is sure he's hit the good life. 
 
That is, until a horse unexpectedly dies in transit and a colleague vanishes. 
 
Then Grey discovers that both his predecessors also went missing in curious cirmcumstances - and begins to doubt the wisdom of his career change. 
 
Either he turns detective or his own disappearance could be next . . .

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