He became one of the most successful postwar steeplechase jockeys, winning more than 350 races and riding for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
At the outbreak of World War II he joined the Royal Air Force as a pilot, flying fighter and bomber aircraft including the Spitfire and Lancaster. He was a young rider of distinction winning awards and trophies at horse shows throughout the United Kingdom. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.Dick Francis (pictured with his son Felix Francis) was born in South Wales in 1920. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott. The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National.
as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express 'A super chiller and killer' New York Times Book Review Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman 'Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard 'A regular winner. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror 'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph 'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care. He can look after himself - can't he? Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. However, he decides to play his own game. Jonathan knows he won't be left alone unless he gives them what they want. When Jonathan's friend is then killed in a suspicious explosion and two thugs turn up at his house waving guns and demanding the tapes, Jonathan realises that he's been handed a whole lot more trouble. They're not your usual tapes: they hold a computer programme which functions as a bookie-breaking betting system.
Physics teacher (and crack shot) Jonathan Derry is given some tapes to look after by a friend. A classic mystery from Dick Francis, the champion of English storytellers.
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