Dick Francis

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?

Malcolm Pembroke has the gold — and five ex-wives and nine children. When his least likable ex-wife meets violent death, Malcolm begins to worry about his own neck. Malcolm calls on his son Ian to protect him from his nearest — if not always dearest — relatives, and Ian comes up with the critical clue in the dark Pembroke past of greed, hate, lust and revenge.

When young investment banker Tim Ekaterin becomes involved in the cutthroat world of thoroughbred racing, he finds his life in business blown to smithereens. For suddenly the multimillion-dollar loan he arranges to finance the purchase of a champion racehorse is threatened by an apparent defect in the animal. Then, as Tim desperately searches for answers, he falls headlong into a deadly deal of violence and murder.

Jockey Freddie Croft discovers a high-stakes conspiracy that exposes the seedy underside of horse racing — and faces even deadlier odds of survival than in any steeplechase run.

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.

The «New York Times» — bestselling authors return with a heart-stopping new novel. On the first day of Royal Ascot, a man steps forward claiming to be Ned Talbot's long-lost father. Barely an hour later, the man is found stabbed to death. Ned embarks on a race to solve his father's murder.

When defence barrister Geoffrey Mason hears the judge’s guilty verdict, he quietly hopes that a long and arduous custodial sentence will be handed down to his arrogant young client. That Julian Trent only receives eight years seems all too lenient. Little does Mason expect that he’ll be seeing Trent again much sooner than he’d ever imagined. Setting aside his barrister’s wig, Mason heads to Sandown to don his racing silks. An amateur jockey, his true passion is to be found in the saddle, on a thoroughbred, pounding the turf. But when a fellow rider is brutally murdered – a pitchfork driven through his chest – the prime suspect is champion jockey Steve Mitchell and the evidence is overwhelming. Mason, reluctant to heed Mitchell’s pleas for legal advice, soon finds himself at the centre of a sinister web of threat and intimidation and is left fighting a battle of right and wrong, and more immediately, a battle of life and death… his own.

Sid Halley, the ex-champion jockey turned investigator who appears in «Odds Against» and «Whip Hand», is back. In «Come to Grief» he faces new dangers, new deeply demanding decisions. Sid has uncovered an obnoxious crime committed by a friend whom he — and everyone else — has held in deep affection. On the morning set for the opening of the friend's trial, at which sid is due to be called as a witness, other people's miseries explode and send him spinning into days of hard rational detection and heart-searching torment. Troubled, courageous and unwilling to admit defeat, for Sid Halley it is business as usual.

Although an amateur, Geoff Mason is well-known among pro riders, including Steve Mitchell and Scot Barlow — the top two pros. So when Barlow is murdered, with Mitchell's pitchfork, Geoff finds himself pulled into the case. The problem is, which side is he on? Dick Francis is the author of more than forty books, including New York Times-bestseller UNDER ORDERS.

The Oxford Bookworms Library provides superb reading and student / teacher support for the classroom, and is also highly recommended for schools running Extensive Reading Programmes, offering the right range of books that encourage students to read for pleasure. People who ride racehorses love the speed, the excitement, the danger — and winning the race. Philip Nore has been riding for many years and he always wants to win — but sometimes he is told to lose. Why? And what is the mystery about the photographer, George Millace, who has just died in a car crash? Philip Nore knows the answer to the first question, and he wants to find out the answer to the second. But as he begins to learn George Millace's secrets, he realizes that his own life is in danger.

‘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 2000 Guineas at Newmarket sees the great and the good of the horse-racing community gathered for a black-tie gala dinner at the Hay Net — the racing town’s favourite Michelin-starred restaurant — founded by Max Moreton, something of a local celebrity. Spending the night retching in the throes of agony is the last thing Max expected of the evening. But much worse is to come…his food is suspected of putting twenty-four dinner guests in hospital. Within hours, Max’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, for soon Max Moreton finds himself desperately fighting for more than just his livelihood…

Julian Trent, you have been found guilty by this court of perpetrating a violent and unprovoked attack on an innocent family including a charge of attempted murder. You have shown little or no remorse for your actions and I consider you a danger to society. When defense lawyer Geoffrey Mason hears the judgeas ruling at Londonas Old Bailey, he quietly hopes that a substantial sentence will be handed down to his arrogant young client. That Julian Trent only receives eight years seems all too lenient. Little does Mason realize that heall be looking Trent in the eyes again much sooner than that. Setting aside his barristeras gown and wig, Mason heads to Sandown racetrack to don his colorful racing silks. As an amateur jockey, he fulfills his true passion by pounding the turf in the heat of a steeplechase. Yet when a fellow rider is brutally murderedaa pitchfork driven through his chestaMasonas racing hobby soon becomes too close to his work. The prime suspect is one of their brethren, champion jockey Steve Mitchell, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming. Mason is reluctant to heed Mitchellas plea for legal helpabut he soon finds himself at the center of a sinister web of violence, threats and intimidation. Mason is left fighting a battle of right and wrong, and more immediately, a battle of life and death his own.

A man doesn't publicly shoot himself in the head in broad daylight with no warning. But Art Mathews did. Pip Pankhurst found his shin bone sticing out of his leg, and his rides over for the season. Grant Oldfield needed help. The kind a psychiatrist gives. It was as though there was a hoodoo on the whole jockey tribe. Then Robb Finn started riding losers. Too many to be a coincidence. Thirteen out of fifteen too many. Finn needs to know just what the hell is going on. However no one is talking. But Finn soon realises he is alone in a world where the only pointers are violence, dope, and the malignant force of twisted envy...

No jockey likes being labelled a cheat. Least of all by a Stewards' Enquiry. Kelly Hughes career looks doomed. He knows he's been framed, but finding the reason could prove dangerous. Especially with a killer on his tail... Hughes' own enquiry uncovers dynamite that could blow the racing world to smithereens. Only a few powerful — and violent — men know the sordid secret. And they'll go to extraordinary lengths to keep it that way. Murder is just one option...

Philip Nore is nearing the end as a jockey. George Millace is finished in photography. The difference is Millace is dead — and Nore has discvoered his secret: a set of files which would blow the top off the racing world. Hated by a dying grandmother he has never known, and abused by a trainer he knows only too well, Nore is no stranger to shabby morals. And when he begins to decipher the dead man's photographs, he uncovers corruption on a scale he had never imagined...

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...

It’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 – 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 jockey Huw Walker – 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 discreet 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’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.

Matt Shore is a substitute pilot assigned to fly four racing buffs to the track. They're nervous, but Matt's not. That is, until he manages an emergency landing minutes before the plane explodes. Matt doesn't think anything else can possibly go wrong. Then he finds himself caught up in a rat race of danger that puts him on the wrong side of the odds..

Steven Scott may have been a successful, wealthy inventor with no experience in horseracing, but with the inspired guidance of his trainer, Jody Leeds, and the prowess of a beautiful black hurdler named Energise, he has brought home several wins. But his winning streak is about to come to a fast end when he discovers trouble in his own stables — trouble that could bring about his own termination if he doesn’t watch his step…

Charles Todd — a renowned painter of horses — is shocked when he turns up at his cousin Donald’s house for a weekend visit to find his cousin’s young wife dead on the floor — and Donald the police’s prime suspect. Determined to prove Donald’s innocence, Todd trails a set of clues from England to Australia to New Zealand, only to realize that someone is trailing him. Someone with every intention of taking him out of the picture for good…

For a generous commission, ex-prize-winning jockey Jonah Dereham reluctantly agrees to bid on a young steeplechaser on behalf of a wealthy American woman. But his life is thrust into danger immediately following the auction, when he receives a blow to the head by two thugs demanding ownership of the horse. Unfortunately, that’s just the beginning — and now Jonah must figure out the high-stakes game being played…before he becomes its next casualty.

Abducted by two men, Neil Griffon discovers that unless he agrees to their unreasonable demands, they will destroy his father's precious horses and racing stable — and, ultimately, Neil himself. Returned to his father's stables, he must find a way to bring down these criminals. Because having to choose between his integrity and his life is no choice at all.

Steeplechase jockey Christmas «Kit» Fielding has had more than his share of close calls both on and off the course. But trouble hits close to home when a grudge between his family and his sister's in-laws turns into a blood feud.

When reporter Bert Checkov falls to his death, his colleague James Tyrone thinks he can prove it was murder. But there's no such thing as a sure thing.