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 http://lcweb.loc.gov/catalog/
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