A short life of the author
Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British former champion steeplechase jockey who became one of the most successful thriller writers of the twentieth century. His formula — an amateur protagonist drawn from the racing world, a crime that disrupts his life, a first-person narrative of laconic courage and competence — produced over forty novels that sold more than sixty million copies worldwide and created a genre of his own: the racing thriller.
Life and Racing Career
Francis was born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. He served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II, flying fighters and bombers. After the war, he turned to steeplechase racing and became one of the leading jump jockeys in Britain, serving as jockey to the Queen Mother’s horses. He was champion jockey in the 1953–1954 season.
His most famous moment as a jockey came in the 1956 Grand National, when he was riding Devon Loch, the Queen Mother’s horse. Approaching the winning post with a substantial lead, Devon Loch inexplicably collapsed — splaying on the turf with the race at his mercy. The incident became one of the most famous mysteries in racing history, and Francis never fully explained what happened.
He retired from racing in 1957 and became racing correspondent for the Sunday Express. His autobiography, The Sport of Queens (1957), was a success, and his publisher encouraged him to try fiction.
The Novels
Dead Cert (1962), his first novel, established the template that Francis would follow for the next four decades. A jockey’s friend is killed in a race that appears to have been fixed; the hero investigates, encounters violence, and eventually exposes the criminals. The novel’s strengths — taut pacing, authentic racing detail, a stoic hero who endures physical punishment without complaint — became the signatures of the Francis thriller.
The best novels vary the formula intelligently. Odds Against (1965) introduces Sid Halley, a former jockey whose hand was crushed in a racing accident — Francis’s most complex recurring character. Whip Hand (1979), Halley’s second outing, won the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Gold Dagger. Proof (1984) moves into the wine trade. Forfeit (1968) centres on a racing journalist. Longshot (1990) features a survival-fiction writer stranded in a racing yard.
Each novel features a different first-person narrator (Halley excepted) drawn from a different profession connected to or adjacent to racing — bloodstock agent, artist, accountant, wine merchant, pilot — and Francis’s research into these worlds gives the books a documentary texture that transcends genre formula.
The Authorship Question
After Mary Francis’s death in 2000, the question of how much she contributed to the novels became public. Mary had a degree in English and French and had served as a WAAF officer during the war. Several sources — including the Francis family — have acknowledged that she was extensively involved in the research and plotting, and possibly in the prose. The quality of the novels declined somewhat after her death, supporting the view that the Francis thrillers were a genuine collaboration.
Critical Standing
Francis is one of the few genre writers to have achieved universal critical respect. His novels are praised not only for their plotting and pacing but for their moral seriousness — the Francis hero is a man of integrity who suffers physical pain, endures injustice, and perseveres through sheer tenacity. The prose is spare and understated, the emotional register controlled. Philip Larkin, not a man given to praising thrillers, was a devoted Francis reader.
Collecting Francis
Dead Cert (1962, Michael Joseph) in first edition with dust jacket brings £500–£2,000. Odds Against (1965) and Whip Hand (1979) bring £100–£300. Francis published prolifically, and most titles are available for £10–£40 in first edition. Signed copies are common; Francis attended events regularly.