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Dick 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.

Ex-jockey Freddie Croft now runs a fleet of vehicles which transport racehorses across the British Isles and Europe. But when two of his drivers pick up a hitchhiker who ends up dead, Freddie's got a big problem. 
 First, it quickly becomes apparent that the hitcher wasn't quite what he seemed. And second, Freddie finds that his horse boxes might just be being used for moving something a lot less legal than horses. 
 Now he must figure out what is going on before the police, and before whoever is doing it cottons on and tries to stop him - permanently.

Driving Force

A beautiful Italian girl driving home in an open top sports car, a little boy playing on a south Coast beach and the Senior Steward of the Jockey Club on his way to a press reception in Baltimore. One after the other they suffer the same nightmare ordeal - kidnapping. But there is one thing connecting these particular cases. For the Italian girl is a jockey and the little boy an only son of a race horse owner. A picture of the person behind this interanational chain of crime starts to emerge - a lover of Verdi, a man with a cool and calculating brain and an aficionado of the racing world. Andrew Doublas, brought in to advise and help the vicitms and their families, proceeds with all his customary diplomacy and courage. Only to find himeself playing a dangerous part: the role usually reserved for his clients...

The Danger

The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Dick Francis's thriller, Under Orders, read by Martin Jarvis. 
 
"Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in one afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow." 
 
It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well - but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker - the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend. 
 
Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place. His brief: to make discrete enquiries into alleged race fixing. Are results being rigged? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise ... 
 
Halley's quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power-play that will push him to his very limits - both professionally and personally. 
 
"A New Dick Francis is always a cause for celebration" - Mail on Sunday.

Under Orders

&lsquo;Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow.&rsquo; 
 
It&rsquo;s the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley. Former champion jockey Halley knows the perils of racing all too well &ndash; but in his day, jockeys didn&rsquo;t usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds jockey Huw Walker &ndash; who, only a few hours earlier, had won the coveted Triumph Hurdle. 
 
Just moments before the gruesome discovery, Halley had been called upon by Lord Enstone to make discrete enquiries into why his horses appeared to be on a permanent losing streak. Are races being fixed? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise? 
 
Halley&rsquo;s quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power play that will push him to his very limits &ndash; both professionally and personally. 
 
In his first new novel for six years, Dick Francis returns to prove once again that he is the Grand Master of thriller writing.

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

Tim Ekaterin has a lot of money. Unfortunately, it is other people's, and it's his job to invest it wisely, or get fired. And he's taken a big risk: using £5 million of the bank's money to fund a champion racing stallion stud. 
 
When the resulting foals have birth defects, Tim decides that there may be something else going on at the stables. His suspicions are confirmed when one of those helping with the horses is murdered. 
 
Determined to get to the bottom of why anyone would do this, Tim puts himself in danger to discover the truth.

Banker

When Kelly Hughes rides the favourite into second place, he gets penalized for his trouble. Not only has he lost the race, but also his licence, as the Jockey Club suspends him - believing he threw the race. 
 
Knowing that the problem lay with the horse's performance, not his own, Kelly suspects he was framed and sets about finding out who has set him up. 
 
But the closer he gets to the perpetrators, the more danger he finds himself in. Now there's more than his reputation and career at stake. 
 
There's also his life . . .

Enquiry

Felix Francis

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

Ex-jockey Sid Halley is asked to investigate possible doping of the horses of thoroughbred trainer George Casper - whose once-successful mounts have been failing spectacularly on the race track. 
 
At the same time he learns that a conman has left his ex-wife Jenny facing a jail sentence over a fake charity, while the Jockey Club want him to look into certain powerful syndicates who may be acting in a ruthless and illegal manner. 
 
Three dangerous cases, three ways to die - Sid is back on home turf . . .

Whip Hand

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

Jockey Kit Fielding's patron, Princess Casilia, is in trouble. Her invalid husband is being threatened by a ruthless business partner who wants to use the firm to manufacture arms. At the same time, some of the Princess's best horses are being killed - shot by a bolt. 
The only person the Princess can turn to is Kit - but he has his own problems. Between riding winners (and saving his impending marriage) Kit has somehow to find out and stop who is slaughtering the horses. 
But, as he's about to discover, the killer has more than horses in his sights.

Bolt

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

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

The abridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Dick and Felix Francis's searing and intrue-fillied thriller, Dead Heat. Read by Martin Jarvis. 
 
'I wondered if I was dying. I wasn't afraid to die but, such was the pain in my gut, I wished it would happen soon.' 
 
The night before the Two Thousand 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 Max Moreton is cooking the evening's meal. 
 
Max is something of a celebrity in Newmarket circles. He is the chef and founder of the racing town's favourite Michelin-starred restaurant, the Hay Net. However, spending the night in the throes of agony with chronic food poisoning is the last thing Max expects - such things simply aren't becoming of a professional chef. And the last thing he needs is to hear that his food is suspected of putting twenty-four of the guests in hospital. 
 
Within hours, Max's restaurant is being forcibly closed, his reputation is teetering on the brink of ruin, and a court case seems to be looming. But the day is far from over, and soon Max Moreton finds himself desperately fighting for more than just his livelihood...

Dead Heat

&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.

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 . . .

Flying Finish

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

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

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

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

Rob Finn's winning streak made him one of the most sought-after steeplechase jockeys. But his subsequent collapse in form surprised no one more than himself. 
 
As word spreads that Finn has lost his nerve, he discovers a well-managed campaign to discredit certain jockeys; in his own case, a plan assisted by horse doping. 
 
But to find the culprits behind it, Finn will have to use all his cunning and racing know-how . . .

Showing results for: ‘Len Deighton’

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