Silks
by Dick Francis
from Putnam Adult
The Grand Master returns in prize-winning form
Geoffrey Mason did it for the money. It is obvious that his client Julian Trent is guilty, and it’s about time rich boy Trent is taught a lesson for his violent ways. The only thing still bothering Geoff is that he is going to miss participating in the Foxhunter Steeplechase— the “Gold Cup” for amateur riders—because the trial has taken a lot longer than expected. Although still an amateur, Geoff is well known (as “Perry” Mason) among the pro riders, including Steve Mitchell and Scot Barlow—arguably the two top pros. So when Scot Barlow is murdered—with Mitchell’s pitchfork nonetheless—Geoff finds himself pulled into the case as a junior barrister. The problem is: which side is he on? Mitchell claims he has been framed, but Geoff knows there was tension between Mitchell and Barlow; in fact, Geoff stumbled across Barlow beaten and bloody not too long ago, and Barlow claimed it was Mitchell who had done the dirty work. To make matters worse, Julian Trent has somehow finagled is way out of prison and has sworn to hunt down Geoff unless he’s a “good little lawyer” and does what he’s told in the Mitchell case. Geoff is left facing adversaries from all sides, tearing him between doing what is right and what will keep him alive.
Dead Heat
by Dick Francis
from Putnam Adult
After a six-year absence from the bestseller lists, Dick Francis roared out of the gate with 2006's Under Orders, demonstrating once again every ounce of his famed narrative drive, brilliant plotting, and simmering suspense. Hard on the heels of that triumph comes Dead Heat, set against the backdrop of Britain's famed Two Thousand Guineas Stakes.
Max Moreton is a rising culinary star and his Newmarket restaurant, The Hay Net, has brought him great acclaim and a widening circle of admirers. But when nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning, his kitchen is shuttered and his reputation takes a hit. Scrambling to meet his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for forty in the glass-fronted private boxes at the Two Thousand Guineas, Max must overcome the previous evening's disaster and provide the new American sponsors of the year's first classic race with a day to remember.
Then a bomb blast rips through the private boxes, killing some of Max's trusted staff as well as many of the guests. As survivors are rushed to the hospital, Max is left to survey the ruins of the grandstand-and of his career. Two close calls are too close for comfort, and Max vows to protect his name-and himself- before it's too late.
Under Orders
by Dick Francis
from Putnam Adult
"Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than one eyebrow."
It's the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley. Last seen in 1995's Come to Grief, former champion jockey Halley knows the perils of racing all too well-but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds jockey Huw Walker-who, only a few hours earlier, had won the coveted Triumph Hurdle.
Just moments before the gruesome discovery, Halley had been called upon by Lord Enstone to make discreet inquiries into why his horses appeared to be on a permanent losing streak. Are races being fixed? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they are realistic?
Halley's quest for answers draws him even deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power play that will push him to his very limits-both professionally and personally.
Smokescreen
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
In Francis's "best thriller" (Evening Standard), a movie star must give the performance of his life when he crosses paths with killers while investigating race-horse tampering in South Africa.
Forfeit
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
When reporter Bert Checkov falls to his death, his colleague James Tyrone thinks he can prove it was murder. But there's no such thing as a sure thing.
Dead Cert
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
Horse racing can be a dangerous sport, but it becomes a deadly one when a champion is killed.
In the Frame
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
A successful painter who loves going to the track finds himself in the biggest race of his life as he works to clear his cousin's name-and trap a ruthless killer before the killer traps him.
For Kicks
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
Australian horse breeder Daniel Roke had resisted the exorbitant sum of money offered by a suave Englishman to investigate a scandal involving drugged racehorses. But after another investigator dies mysteriously, Roke agrees to fill his shoes--and learns that men who would give drugs to horses are capable of doing much worse to human beings.
The Edge
by Dick Francis
from Berkley
A high-class, transcontinental horse-racing junket should be an idyllic getaway for the super-rich.
But one passenger on this train is a sociopath, a genius at blackmail and criminal corruption--and he plans to take everyone for everything they've got.
Wild Horses
by Dick Francis
from Berkley Trade
A smash hit novel now in trade—from “a rare and magical talent… who never writes the same story twice.”(San Diego Union-Tribune)
When Thomas Lyon decides to make a movie based on an unsolved crime that shocked the horseracing world in Wild Horses, he discovers that someone will do anything—including commit murder—to make sure this story isn’t told…
+++
