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Felix Francis Books in Order

Explore Felix Francis books in order, with short summaries, series background and where-to-start guidance for his Dick Francis thrillers and other racing mysteries.

Last updated: December 19, 2025

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18 books

Dark Horse

by Felix Francis

2025

Imogen Duffy is an up‑and‑coming Irish jump jockey trying to escape an abusive, stalking boyfriend when he is found stabbed with a knife bearing her fingerprints. Hired by her father, Sid Halley digs into jealous rivalries and obsession in the weighing room while a stalker closes in on him too.

Syndicate

by Felix Francis

2024

Chester Newton has built a good life organising racehorse syndicates, spreading the cost of ownership across groups of investors. After a big Derby win, someone tries to seize one syndicate by violence and threats against his family, forcing Chester to confront how far greed will go.

No Reserve

by Felix Francis

2023

Newmarket auctioneer Theo Jennings is about to land his first multi‑million‑pound yearling sale when the young colt is found dead in its box. Soon a human body turns up in the same stable, suspicion falls on Theo, and he must unmask the killer before he is ruined.

Hands Down

by Felix Francis

2022

With a transplanted left hand and a fragile marriage, Sid Halley is trying to ease back into work when an ex‑jockey friend begs for help after receiving threats. When the friend’s yard burns and he is found dead, Sid investigates a conspiracy that strikes at the heart of British racing.

Iced

by Felix Francis

2021

Seven years after walking away from racing, former jockey Miles Pussett now chases adrenaline on the Cresta Run in St Moritz. Talked into helping with horses at the White Turf ice races, he spots suspicious tampering and finds himself the target of ruthless attackers on and off the ice.

Guilty Not Guilty

by Felix Francis

2019

Racecourse volunteer Bill Russell is shattered when his wife is murdered and he is accused of the crime. Hounded by police, tabloids and former friends, he fights to clear his name and uncover who really wanted her dead.

Crisis

by Felix Francis

2018

London crisis manager Harrison Foster is sent to Newmarket after a fire at the Chadwick stables kills a Derby favourite and several other horses. As human remains and family secrets surface, he must untangle arson, greed and rivalry before he becomes expendable.

Pulse

by Felix Francis

2017

Emergency doctor Chris Rankin treats an unidentified man found collapsed at the racecourse, only for him to die of a cocaine overdose while her back is turned. Consumed by guilt and curiosity, she starts asking questions and uncovers a dangerous betting scam that someone will kill to protect.

Triple Crown

by Felix Francis

2016

Seconded to a US sports‑corruption agency, Jeff Hinkley heads to the Kentucky Derby to hunt a mole leaking investigations to crooked trainers. When a raid turns deadly and leading Derby horses fall sick, he goes undercover on the backstretch to stop a murderous plot targeting the Triple Crown.

Front Runner

by Felix Francis

2015

Jeff Hinkley is asked by a champion jockey to discuss throwing races, but before they can talk the rider dies in a suspected suicide and Jeff survives a violent attack. Digging into past results, he uncovers organised race‑fixing and powerful people ready to silence him.

Damage

by Felix Francis

2014

Undercover investigator Jeff Hinkley is shadowing a disgraced trainer at Cheltenham when he witnesses a throat‑slashing in the betting ring. As drugged horses and blackmail demands rock the season, Jeff races to identify the extortionist before the sport’s reputation – and his job – are destroyed.

Refusal

by Felix Francis

2013

Years after giving up detective work, Sid Halley is a family man trying to live quietly when racing’s top official begs him to investigate suspicious results. A death, threats and the kidnapping of his daughter force Sid to confront a ruthless bookmaker and his own fears.

Bloodline

by Felix Francis

2012

Race commentator Mark Shillingford knows his twin sister, star jockey Clare, eased her horse when she should have won. After a furious row she apparently jumps from a London hotel balcony, and Mark sets out to learn whether race‑fixing – or murder – lies behind her death.

Gamble

by Felix Francis

2011

Ex‑jockey Nicholas 'Foxy' Foxton has rebuilt his life as a financial adviser when a colleague is shot dead beside him at the Grand National. Named executor of the dead man’s estate, Foxy uncovers risky investments, coded threats and a killer watching his every move.

Crossfire

by Felix Francis

2010

After an IED in Afghanistan costs Captain Tom Forsyth a foot and his army career, he limps back to his mother’s training yard. She is being blackmailed to make her horses lose, and Tom must use battlefield skills to unmask the extortionist.

Even Money

by Felix Francis

2009

Small‑time bookmaker Ned Talbot is already struggling at Royal Ascot when a stranger claims to be the father he thought long dead, then is stabbed in the car park. Inheriting dangerous secrets, Ned races to discover who is hunting his family and why.

Silks

by Felix Francis

2008

Barrister and amateur steeplechase jockey Geoffrey Mason is fresh from defending a vicious client when a fellow rider is murdered and suspicion falls on him. To stay out of prison, he must expose deadly score‑settling inside the weighing room and the courts.

Dead Heat

by Felix Francis

2007

Chef Max Moreton’s reputation collapses when diners at a glamorous Newmarket gala fall violently ill and his restaurant is shut down. After a bomb tears through the racecourse next day, he suspects sabotage and risks everything to link the two attacks.

Where should I start?

If you’re new to Felix Francis: Guilty Not GuiltyCrisisNo Reserve
If you want a classic racing investigator arc: DamageFront RunnerTriple Crown
If you’re following Sid Halley’s later cases: RefusalHands DownDark Horse
If you like character-driven standalones: GambleBloodlinePulseIced

Author bio

Felix Francis was born in 1953 in Oxford, England, the younger son of crime writer and former jockey Dick Francis and his wife, Mary. He grew up in a house where talk about horses, racing mishaps and half-formed story ideas was as normal as discussing school. From early on he saw how closely real life on the racecourse could feed a page-turning mystery.

Books and science pulled at him just as strongly as the track.

Felix studied Physics and Electronics at London University and went on to spend seventeen years teaching Advanced Level physics. He taught at three schools, finishing as head of science at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. He has often said that teaching teenagers to think logically turned out to be excellent training for building tight, cause-and-effect plots.

In the early 1990s he moved into business, becoming deputy chairman and a director of World Challenge Expeditions, an organisation that sends young people on demanding overseas trips. At the same time, he gradually took on more of the day‑to‑day work around his father’s career, handling travel, publicity and the constant stream of research queries that fed the novels. Looking after the Dick Francis operation quietly became his second full‑time job.

Behind the famous name there was always collaboration. Dick’s wife Mary had long been deeply involved in the research and writing, and after her death in 2000 Felix stepped further into that role. He helped shape plots, checked technical details, and drew on his experience as both physics teacher and marksman for books such as Twice Shy, Shattered and Under Orders. Before long father and son were working side by side on new stories.

The partnership became public with Dead Heat in 2007, the first novel to carry both their names on the cover, followed by Silks, Even Money and Crossfire. When Dick Francis died in 2010, they were still polishing that last book. A year later Felix published Dick Francis’s Gamble, his first solo novel in the brand, and proved that he could carry the racing world forward on his own terms.

Since then he has written a stream of mysteries that keep the familiar blend of racing detail and high stakes while widening the range of people caught up in the trouble. Former jockeys nursing old injuries, an anxious emergency doctor in Pulse, a crisis manager in Crisis, a racecourse auctioneer in No Reserve and investigators like Jefferson Hinkley and Sid Halley all face threats that spill from the parade ring into their families, finances and sense of self. The settings move between country tracks, city hospitals, Swiss ice runs and American Triple Crown meetings, but the stories always turn on ordinary professionals forced into making hard decisions under pressure.

Felix’s writing leans on clean prose, careful research and a strong sense of how modern racing actually works, from drug testing labs to betting exchanges. Readers who grew up on his father’s novels tend to recognise the clipped first‑person voice and the emphasis on resilience after injury or loss, even as the books tackle newer concerns such as online gambling, media scrutiny and mental health.

Today Felix lives in Oxfordshire with his wife, Debbie, and their dogs, and still spends plenty of time at race meetings and literary festivals. Away from the desk he is known as an enthusiastic outdoorsman, an accomplished shot and a pilot, skills that occasionally find their way onto the page. He is active in crime‑writing circles, has served as an International Guest of Honor at major mystery conventions, and continues to add new titles to the long-running series of Dick Francis racing thrillers.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 18 Felix Francis Books in Order (Complete List 2026)