Dick Francis, the bestselling master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing.

A hard fall took hotshot jockey Sid Halley out of the horse racing game, leaving him with a crippled hand, a broken heart, and the desperate need for a new job. Now he’s landed a position with a detective agency, only to catch a bullet from some  common thug. And things are about to get even more hectic. The agency is giving him a case to handle on his own.

The case brings him to the door of Zanna Martin, a woman who might be just what Sid needs to get him back up and running. But he’s up against a field of thoroughbred criminals, and the odds against him are making it a long shot that he’ll even survive…

Praise for Dick Francis

‘Dick Francis is a wonder’ Cleveland Plain Dealer

‘Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at a full gallop’ Chicago Tribune

‘Francis captures our attention and holds us spellbound… all the breathless pace we have come to expect of this superb writer.’ NYT Book Review

‘Few match Francis for dangerous flights of fancy and pure inventive menace’ Boston Herald

‘[The] master of crime fiction and equine thrills’ Newsday

‘Each Francis novel seems to be his best.’ Sunday Oklahoman

‘Few writers have maintained such a high standard of excellence for as long as Dick Francis’ San Diego Union-Tribune

‘[Francis] has the uncanny ability to turn out simply plotted yet charmingly addictive mysteries’ Wall Street Journal

‘Francis is a genius’ Los Angeles Times

‘For more than thirty years, Dick Francis has been mystery’s Gibraltar, a sturdy rock in stormy straits. Nobody executes the whodunit formula better’ Chicago Sun-Times

‘A rare and magical talent… who never writes the same story twice’ San Diego Union-Tribune