Dick Francis Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Sid Halley Books
| Odds Against | (1965) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
| Whip Hand | (1979) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
| Come to Grief | (1995) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
| Under Orders | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
| Refusal | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
| Hands Down | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
+ Show All Books in this Series | ||||
Publication Order of Kit Fielding Books
| Break In | (1985) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Bolt | (1986) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Field of Thirteen | (1998) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books
| The Sport of Queens: The Autobiography of Dick Francis | (1957) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| The Racing Man's Bedside Book | (1969) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| A Jockey's Life: The Biography of Lester Piggot / Lester | (1986) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Jefferson Hinkley Books
| Damage | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Front Runner | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
| Triple Crown | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Anthologies
Born Richard Stanley Francis on 31st October 1920 in Coedcanlas, Pembroke, in Wales. Dick Francis was just his pen name which he had chosen to use because it is more memorable. His father was a jockey and was also employed to manage a stable at a firm in Berkshire, England. He dropped out of school at fifteen years intending to become a jockey like his father and ended up becoming an instructor in 1938.
At the onset of the World War II, being young and energetic he enlisted in the military where he served as a crew and later a pilot in the Royal Air Force. He worked with the fighter and bomber aircrafts such as the Hurricane. Most of the air travels in his six years of military work took place in distant continents, mostly Africa. Dick Francis was married to his late wife Margaret Brenchley whom he had met in October of 1945 at a cousin’s nuptials.
They tied the knot in 1947 despite encountering objections from relatives on both sides. They were blessed with two sons, Merrick and Felix in 1953. In most interviews, the two disclosed that theirs was the proverbial love at first sight, something the author replicated in some of his characters such as in the Flying Finish novel, knockdown and the Edge. His wife succumbed to a heart attack in 2000 at their home in Cayman Islands.
Later in 2006 Dick Francis also started having health problems, heart had developed some complications which necessitated him to undergo a heart bypass in that year. The following year, he lost his right leg due to his failing heart. He eventually died a natural death on 14 February of 2010 at his Caribbean abode leaving behind his two sons. Horse Racing Achievements Horse racing was his first passion before he decided to become a writer.
Soon after leaving the force in 1946, he participated in numerous horse races in Britain. He won close to 400 horse races in the British National Hunt Racing which propelled him to stardom in the horse racing world. He was the Champion Jockey in the 1953-1954 periods. His exploits with horse racing did not end on the pitch; he also worked as a first jockey for Vivian Smith, which was considered to be a great honor in those days.
He even served as a jockey for the England’s royal family. It was during his work as the Jockey of Queen Elizabeth’s horse, Devon Loch, that he made his biggest blunder in his horse racing career during his famous fall at a racing competition. He missed winning the Grand National in 1956 when the horse he was riding, Devon Loch which belonged to the queen, mysteriously fell just before reaching the finishing line.
This was the lowest moment in his racing career. Not surprising however, he had sustained many injuries due to this sport since he was 12 years old to his adulthood. The loyal Queen’s adviser persuaded him to stop racing in 1957 to avoid getting more broken bones over the same. His novels also depicted this in his characters, most of whom suffered injuries in accidents when racing.
This was his other passion in life besides horse racing for which he was also famous. The first book he penned was his autobiography The Sport of Queens which was published in 1957 for which he was the ghost writer. The book’s success got him a job at the London’s Sunday Express newspaper as a correspondent since it proved him to be an authority in horse riding events. This career spanned for over a decade and he did it dutifully for the next sixteen years.
In 1961, his first thriller Dead Cert was published. It was set in the world of racing which had become second to nature to him. His vast experience in that lifestyle gave him a lot of content to use in his imaginative stories. Over the next 38 years, Dick Francis became engaged in writing over seventy novels. He was dedicated to writing at least two books each year with the exception of 1998 when he wrote a collection of crime related short stories.
He was a genius when it came to creating characters that were neither too real nor too fictional. Most of his readers felt that they could somehow relate to these fictitious heroes. He took great care not to paint them as having supernatural powers and tried to make them as human as possible. The heroes, despite being horse racers, they always had another job on the side, their lives were not entirely intertwined with horse racing, occasionally, the characters could extricate themselves from it and pursue other careers.
They could be a private investigator, an artist, pilot, wine merchant, or an ex- jockey who is no longer active in racing. Some of his famous works include In the Frame, To the Hilt, Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, Under Orders, The Edge, The Rat Race and Proof among others. The author was also fascinated by other people’s jobs which he exhaustively analyzed in his books. The heroes in his stories were usually given the roles of the narrator to heighten the suspense and create dramatic effect.
He also explored social issues like dysfunctional families which he incorporated expertly in his stories to make an interesting read. Dick Francis wrote his books with the help of his wife Margaret. He acknowledged his spouse’s input in his writing once during an interview saying that she was the one who used to carry out research for the books’ contents. No one could have guessed this strange twist of events but that is how the author got to accomplish his literary feats.
Book Series In Order » Authors »
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I had just lost my dear boy Chance. Came across a dick Francis book and proceeded to read every one. They served as a morphine drip. Forever grateful. My favorite STRAIGHT.
I have read each DF novel between 10-20 times:will choose one to get me through grief or hard times.What a fine writer Can anyone help me name the one where the hero, having been beaten terribly, is lying on his own stairwell for hours, with muscle spasms? And the one(same?) where Bananas Foster is cooked?Maybe it’s one of my less-favored titles! Thanks.
Hi Laura, the book you´re lookin for (beaten hero lying on his stairs) is “reflex”. It is all about photography. Don´t think there´s bananas foster in there though, must be a different one. Reflex is one of my favourites, maybe because it is one of the first of Dick Francis novels I read as a boy. I just recently read it again after 30 years…
Hi Laura — You might be thinking of the dessert “Bananas Frisby” in the second part of Twice Shy. (First part narrated by Jonathan Derry, second part by his much younger brother William. Both in turn find themselves confronting the same homicidal brute.) William’s closest neighbor and guardian angel is the pub-owner John James Frisby, a culinary genius always known as “Bananas” from the best-loved dessert on his menu.
I have always been a reader but years ago when I started reading Dick Francis my appetite became insatiable. One would think his books would be similar since that are all based around the world of horse racing but not so. I so admired his research to make each story so individual. I always felt I had learned something with each book – who would have thought I would find the world of international finances fascinating as I did in the book Banker! I’ve read them all and just talking about it makes me want to read them again!!
I remember reading Dick Francis’ books years ago. And a friend just reminded me of him. However, I am allergic to horses, and was wondering if a few of his books are about other things, if so I will start with them. Our library has some of his, and Thriftbooks has plenty.
On another note, I just borrowed the complete collection of John D. MacDonald books from a childhood friend of mine. Reason why, my dad knew Mr. MacDonald well, and when I was a kid, I would listen to them telling each other wonderful stories. We lived in Florida.
I highly recommend his books too.
I’ve read and re-read heaps of DF books and enjoyed every one. I am also as great fan of John D McDonald – his “The Girl, The Gold Watch and Everything” outstandingly different.
I am a huge admirer of Dick Francis. He must have been a highly intelligent and self-disciplined man. I quite agree with Thomas Palmer who noted that any novels written after 2010 were not written by Dick Francis and should not be labeled so.
Dick Francis will be long remembered and admired.
Love Dick Francis! Before I begin a new novel (I’m an author) I read a Duck Francis to remind myself that in good writing less truly is more. Although my genre is Upmarket fiction, yet as a lover of mysteries and a horsewoman (trainer, breeder, show-woman) I dared try my hand at a mystery—and a horsey one too. But I decided to use show horses-something that’s never been done. I wrote Hot Blooded Murder and the star is a champion Morgan stallion—unhappily accused of slaughtering his mistress. But my sleuth, Ms Bryn Wiley, and a horsewoman sets out to clear the stallion’s name. She travels the sultry streets of New Orleans, the rolling countryside of St Tremaine parish searching for a human murderer….
I ordered & read all the Dick Francis detective series years ago. Now I have found them in ebooks at my library & will be able to enjoy them again.
I’ve been re-reading the books and was relieved to finally find the Kit Fielding books. Wish there were more. I absolutely loved these books!
I have just listed the books above and find I have 32 in my “library” and need another 28 (where am I going to put them all?) Any idea where to get them from these days?
Amazon or ebay or possibly check out second hand stores etc. Good luck fitting them all in 🙂
I had the best success on eBay.
Thriftbooks or AbeBooks. They sell used books in good condition for lesser prices than Amazon
thriftbooks.com is an excellent source. I loaned out a lot of my Francis books that never made their way home, replaced them all, and even got some of them FREE!
First off, I have almost nothing to do with horses, other than having ridden a horse or pony half a dozen times in my life. I have never mucked out a stall. I don’t know how many of Dick’s books I have, but they take up two shelves in my library.
I particularly like those books that get into the jockey’s mind and the actual racing. I have raced sports cars, and some of the strategy is the same, although I never jumped a Datsun over a hurdle.
Above all, I find it highly interesting how he wrote books from all viewpoints of the horse racing industry, the jockeys, the trainers, the owners, etc. And he threw in other interests of his and folded them into interesting novels.
Bob Bunce, Colchester CT
I was very disappointed that Dick Francis wrote only two books featuring Kit Fielding.
I really liked him.
I’m more of a non-fiction history and archaeology reader but somehow…..he got me.
Mr. Francis was one of a kind.
Now, the search is on for “Bolt” and not, as a pp
mentioned, from Amazon.
I don’t like how they’ve treated me
Is it possible to buy a boxed set of all of Dick Francis’ thrillers, and NOT from Amazon? Sorry, but I don’t like how Amazon treats its workers.
Any books listed after 2010 are NOT Dick Francis books! That was when Sir Francis died. They are his sons Felix’ and should not be listed as one of his books.
I miss Dick Francis. Far and away my favourite author! RIP sir, you shaped my childhood.