My first Francis was BANKER, read on vacation in the mid-late 70s (as a selection in a popular "Condensed Books" release). Immediately hooked, I combed earlier Condensed editions for other Francis works and consumed them whole... then began collecting and re-reading those stories (and others) in their unexpurgated wonderfulness. So very hard to select a single favorite; Francis' rich development of both character and locale pull one into each story, despite the recurring theme of "honorable central figure pitted against unscrupulous / soulless antagonist(s)". I so enjoy the focus around steeplechase racing (a world so apart from my own), but I have greatly appreciated Francis' well-researched forays into other areas of endeavor. BANKER continues to be an all-time favorite... but Kit Fielding remains my favorite character, so BREAK IN and BOLT are always at the top of my short list, along with STRAIGHT (how I wish Francis had written a prequel about Grev!!), FOR KICKS, TO THE HILT, PROOF, and ENQUIRY. Next task; go back and re-read all 3 Sid Halley books, as he and I didn't "connect" at first acquaintance! :)

Victoria, I love your idea about a prequel of Straight with Greville! We had a previous poll (several years back, not on Goodreads) asking which DF hero people would most like to read about in a sequel. If I redo the poll here, I'll have to include prequel AND sequel. :)