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Dick Francis is one of the greatest and most successful thriller writers in the world. He was born in South Wales and served in the RAF for six years during WWII, before returning to his equestrian roots. The son of a jockey, Dick became a celebrity in the world of British National Hunt racing, winning more than 350 races. He had a Champion Jockey season in 1953/54, after which he was retained as jockey to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1953-57). He rode in the world famous Grand National Steeplechase eight times, and nearly won in 1956 when his horse, the Queen Mother’s Devon Loch, suddenly collapsed a few strides away from victory with a clear field. This incident, which Dick has called “both the high point and low point of my career as a jockey,” was the impetus for him to begin a second career as a writer.
Shortly after the incident, a literary agent approached him about writing an autobiography. In 1957, Dick suffered a serious fall and was advised to retire from race riding and after completing his autobiography, The Sport of Queens (1957), he accepted an invitation to write six features for the Sunday Express. He stayed on as the newspaper's racing correspondent for 16 years. Sports writing soon led to fiction writing, which in turn led to a string of 39 bestselling novels. His first was called Dead Cert (1962), and following the death of his wife Mary, many feared his thirty-eighth novel Shattered (2000) would be his last. Happily, and with the help of his son Felix, 2006 saw the publication of Under Orders, a runaway bestseller and true return to form. His most recent book is called Dead Heat, which was co-written with Felix and published in September 2007 to further success. The father and son team are currently working on a follow-up. In addition to his novels and autobiography, Dick has published Lester (1986), the biography of Lester Piggott, and Field of Thirteen (1998), a volume of short stories. He has co-edited four collections of racing stories, has contributed to numerous anthologies and periodicals, and his books have been bestsellers all over the world and translated into more than thirty languages.
Dick was appointed OBE in 1984, and was awarded the CWA Silver Dagger in 1965, Gold Dagger in 1980 and Cartier Diamond Dagger for his life’s work in 1990. He has received three Edgar Allen Poe Awards for Best Novel from the Mystery Writers of America, most recently for Come to Grief (1995) – at the time, he was the only author to have been awarded this prestigious award more than once. In 1996, the Mystery Writers of America named Dick a Grand Master for his life’s work, and he was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Tufts University. In 1998 he was elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and he was promoted to CBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours list of 2000. He now lives in the Caribbean.
Recent books:
Dead Heat (Michael Joseph: 2007)
Under Orders (Michael Joseph: 2006)
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