Risk (published in 1977) - Written by Dick Francis, a story of a kidnapping

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded the CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Ronald Britten the hero is an accountant who moonlights as a steeplechase jockey. This is one of the few books of Dick Francis which has an accountant as the star, as accountants are considered the nerd incarnates. But as it is foretold “nerds rule the world”, Ronald Britten with his penchant for number's analyses and observes each and every situation and gets tailored made solutions for them. Any ways as he wins the Cheltham Open Championships, he is kidnapped and locked aboard a sail boat.



Ronald cannot make head or tail of his incarceration and gets no answers. He soon escapes to an island and is helped by the middle aged spinster Hillary Pillock to evade the criminals. Hillary has a very unusual request as a price for her help and she becomes very crucial for Roland later. Ronald reaches mainland and continues his investigations. He checks out whether he has any bad run ups with anyone while doing auditing and soon he pin points certain suspicious elements.
As the investigations go on, Ronald gets involved in the races and develops a romantic interest with a jockey's daughter. But as he is riding to another race, he is again kidnapped, but let go. Soon he peels off the disguises of many of his so called friends and with the help of his fiancée and Hillary manages to bring his captors to the book.
A very engrossing tale complete with all the racing trivia which an insider like dick Francis can only provide. The language is simple and to the point, therefore there are no skip areas. This page turner does follow the formulaic thriller of Dick Francis, with an underdog hero coming up trumps against a violent world intent on killing him. But Francis manages to get the readers attention focused on the who done it plot. The unmasking of the villain is the masterpiece of this novel and I would suggest not to miss this one.

In the Frame (published in 1976) - Written by Dick Francis - into the world of art fraud and crime

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded a CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Yet another fabulous novel from the master mystery writer and its all about horse racing again. One of the enduring traits about the Dick Francis book is that there is an endless variety of jobs and passions related to the racing fraternity. In The Frame has a horse painter as the protagonist.



Yes Charles Todd is a painter or an artist who paints horses. During the course of his book Dick Francis gives you the trivia or the interesting facets of painting a horse picture. Many are an event frozen in time by the artist. It is said that Mary, his wife used to help him undertake extensive research to help him get through the book. So she learned photography, parachute gliding and for this book she learned to paint. As Felix, Dick Francis's son put it “they were a team, a cottage industry with out a cottage”.
Charles Todd like all the Francis heroes, is an unassuming gentleman, albeit a cheeky one here. He comes down to Australia to check on a cousin. But as luck could have it he walks in to a crime scene. The cousin's house is burglarized, and the wife is murdered seemingly intercepting the thieves. The house is completely burned down ruining all the expensive paintings and a cellar full of wine. Charles stays back to help his cousin to deal with the police and the insurance. The investigation appears to be stalled and his cousin sinks deeper in to depression. To help the stagnant situation to move Charles takes matter in his own hands follows up the clues.
He meets another middle aged women whose house has been similarly burnt down and the common thread running between the two being a purchase of a painting done by the master. Soon patterns evolve and Charles finds that all the paintings bought were fake and to cover the trail of the phony paintings the fraudsters were trying to destroy them as soon they were purchased. Charles detective work takes him all over Australia and New Zealand where he is battered, bruised and almost killed. But he soon manages to uncover the gang's modus operandi and once again rescues the racing world.
Only Dick Francis can come up with a thriller like this and the simplicity is the major brownie point for this book. An incisive knowledge about the racing world and his vast experience helps Francis to mold a fantastic character like Charles Todd who may not be a jockey but paints horses. The language is engaging, simple and down to earth. Only jarring feature is the prevailing old British overtones through out and its still difficult to believe such chivalry exists in the real world.

High Stakes (published in 1975) - Written by Dick Francis, a toy designer being cheated by his trainer

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded a CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Published in 1975, High Stakes is vintage Dick Francis, a thriller amidst the turmoil of the racing world. The star is Steven Scott who pays for his expensive hobby of horse breeding with his inventive toys. As a toymaker Steven is a novice with horses and relies on his trainer Jody Leeds whom he trusts implicitly. The duo nets winner after another and this makes Steven a successful horse owner. But as he goes through his stable finances, Steven realizes that he has been taken on a ride.



Jody Leeds had been pilfering large sums of money and Steven proceeds to sack him. Rudely awakened from his neat take aways Jody tries to hurt Steven where it matters most, by taking away his prized stallion, “Energise”. Jody tries to run over Steven while escaping with Energise and is stopped. But he tries again and succeeds in carting off the horse which makes Steven dig deeper.
Soon public opinion sympathize with Jody which further sends Steven's quest to despair. He finds that the racket involves many small betting outfits which have been loosing money. Villains who soon loose money over this affair try to stop Steven and soon he is facing a game of life and death. But Steven is not the one to let things go. He soon acquires new friends which involve his romantic interest and puts in a great plan to get back his horse. All his mechanical inventive genius is put to use to get back Energise and neutralize the villains.
This book is a real page turner with its taut story telling. The ramblings of the horse racing scenario is absent with Dick Francis focusing on the inventive genius of the hero who succeeds to get the horse back. The plot is mesmerizing and I say that the book is a must read.

Knock Down (published in 1974) - A novel by Dick Francis - the story of a bloodstock agent

Richard Stanley Francis or Dick Francis was born in Pembrokshire, Wales, England on October 20th 1920. His father was a renowned jockey and Francis was catapulted in to the world of Horses, Jockeys and racing. He dropped out of school to train as a Jockey and was a fighter pilot in the Royal Air-force during World War II. After the war Francis became a celebrity Champion Jockey winning over 350 races. He was the lead Jockey for the Queen Mother. But he had to drop out of Horse racing after a serious fall and became a racing correspondent for Sunday Express. Dick Francis churned out numerous best sellers and most of his books deal with the mysteries in the realm of Horse racing and Jockeys. He wrote more than 40 international best sellers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Being a three time recipient of Mystery writer of America's Edgar Award he was made the Grand master of MWA. He is also the recipient of Britain's Crime Writers Association's Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award. He also has the Gumshoe award to his credit. He was accorded in CBE in 2000. Dick Francis died in his Caribbean home on February 10, 2010 bringing down the curtains to an illustrious life.
Knock Down is the story of a blood stock trader, well it is not as macabre as it sounds. In the English horsing terminology it is equivalent of a horse trader or the horse buyer. Dick Francis gives another aspect of the English horse racing terminology with the respect of buying and selling horses.



As the writer himself implies, this profession is full of phony traders, bribing and cheating gullible customers, and the hero Jonah Dereham is an exception. An ex-jockey who was grievously injured, Jonah is happy with a small commission and is zealously honest. His goodness and immense knowledge make him the favorite of buyers but "when success could breed envy even in friends, in enemies it could raise spite of Himalayan proportions”. Jonah is a reclusive loner with an alcoholic brother Crispin who in this day and age would never get out of rehab.
Jonah is asked by an American heiress Kerry Sanders to choose a horse for her. After their successful bid for a great horse, two thugs corner Jonah to write over the horse to them. The motives for not bidding, and then at the same time asking to resell the horse intrigues him and Jonah refuses to sell the horse; he is promptly clubbed. Soon a series of run-in happens for various horses and pretty soon Jonah is on the run for his life. But a Dick Francis hero never leaves the scene midway, and Jonah true to the adage determinedly goes against his adversaries.
Jonah suffers threats, harassment, violence against himself and Crispin and knock downs. Amidst all this action he meets Air Traffic Controller Sophie Randolf when his horse bolts across the run way crashing her car. Sophie is suspicious at first and soon falls for the gentleman Jonah and helps him out with his case. Together they solve the mystery about Kerry Sanders, the Horses and the thugs.
A vintage Dick Francis book with an action backed story revolving around the racing fraternity. Knock Down guarantees a good read with a suitable romantic angle to keep the interest. The hero is a likable honest English Gentle man who pursues the villains even when all chips are down. The book I feel is condescending to the American lady but still the slight is forgivable with Jonah's winnable ways. A good book to read, a knockout buy.