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Nerve / In the Frame / Reflex
The Dick Francis Collection
Three intriguing racetrack mysteries
Former champion jockey Dick Francis invented his own genre of mystery-thriller when an accident cut short his riding career. No longer able to perform at the track, he began writing about it, using jockeys and other track types to show what went on behind the scenes, where murder and mystery were as prevalent as horses and hay. Here’s three fan favorites.
Nerve Someone is trying to destroy the lives of jockeys all over England. When Jockey Robert Finn becomes the next target, he takes it upon himself to do a little amateur sleuthing to settle the score. (published in 1964)
In the Frame Charles Todd is an English artist who is well known and respected for his renderings of sleek and athletic horses. What he now faces at his cousin Donald's house is also art—the art of a perfectly brutal murder. (published in 1976)
Reflex When jockey Philip Nore begins to suspect that a track photographer's fatal accident was really murder, he sets out to discover the truth and to trap the killer, and unwittingly sets himself up to become the hunted rather than the hunter. (published in 1980)
Three intriguing racetrack mysteries
Former champion jockey Dick Francis invented his own genre of mystery-thriller when an accident cut short his riding career. No longer able to perform at the track, he began writing about it, using jockeys and other track types to show what went on behind the scenes, where murder and mystery were as prevalent as horses and hay. Here’s three fan favorites.
Nerve Someone is trying to destroy the lives of jockeys all over England. When Jockey Robert Finn becomes the next target, he takes it upon himself to do a little amateur sleuthing to settle the score. (published in 1964)
In the Frame Charles Todd is an English artist who is well known and respected for his renderings of sleek and athletic horses. What he now faces at his cousin Donald's house is also art—the art of a perfectly brutal murder. (published in 1976)
Reflex When jockey Philip Nore begins to suspect that a track photographer's fatal accident was really murder, he sets out to discover the truth and to trap the killer, and unwittingly sets himself up to become the hunted rather than the hunter. (published in 1980)
- GenresMystery
420 pages, Paperback
First published October 11, 2012
29 people want to read
About the author
Dick Francis
539 books1,256 followersDick Francis, CBE, FRSL (born Richard Stanley Francis) was a popular British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey.
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. 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 '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. 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.
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.
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. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. 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. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."
Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. 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 '
Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys. 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.
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.
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. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. 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. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.
Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 16, 2015
I usually do not like abridged versions of novels which is why I prefer to avoid the Reader's Digest Condensed books series. However, I spotted this book on the second floor of Book Revue in Huntington, NY (www.bookrevue.com)-regular patrons of that fine indie store will know where I'm talking about. Anyway, I bought this book without realizing it was one of THOSE book collections.
But about the book: one can't go wrong with this introduction to a true master. "Nerve", I believe, is Francis' second novel, "In the Frame" doesn't have a lot to do with racing but good all the same, And "Reflex" is the best of the trio.
A nice quick read throughout which, sadly, is what the RD series is about. At least one can go on to the full length novels from here.
But about the book: one can't go wrong with this introduction to a true master. "Nerve", I believe, is Francis' second novel, "In the Frame" doesn't have a lot to do with racing but good all the same, And "Reflex" is the best of the trio.
A nice quick read throughout which, sadly, is what the RD series is about. At least one can go on to the full length novels from here.
May 16, 2021
Surprisingly good 😀
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews