New Releases by Felix Francis

“The master of suspense and intrigue” (Country Life) is back with the next powerful installation in the Dick Francis series, perfect for fans of Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly. Theo Jennings, an auctioneer in Newmarket, England, has been climbing the ladder at the bloodstock sales company for the past three years. He’s planning on making his first ever multi-million sale with a yearling colt. When he finds the colt dead a few days after the auction, Theo is suspicious that there was foul play involved. As Theo begins to investigate the death, he finds that answers aren’t coming readily from those who he questions. When a person’s body is discovered in the same stable a few days later, all fingers point to him. As his world turns upside down with the accusations, Theo decides to further his investigation. The only way to clear Theo’s name is to find the real murderer, but it isn’t just the police who have their eye on him–the killer has a target on his back.

New York Times-bestselling author: A mystery unfolds at the races in this moving crime novel about a struggling ex-jockey—for fans of Clive Cussler and James Lee Burke. “Brilliant all around.” —Booklist Seven years ago, Miles Pussett was a steeplechase jockey, loving the rush of the race. But after an unfortunate event, he left horseracing behind and swore he would never return. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding headfirst down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour. Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. Against his better judgement, he decides to assist, but things aren’t as innocent as they seem. When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant about stopping him—and they’ll go to any length to do it.

THRILLERS THAT RACE FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE . . . 'Felix Francis' novels gallop along splendidly' Jilly Cooper 'From winning post to top of the bestseller lists' Sunday Times An old friend in need, a dangerous conspiracy - a new case for Sid Halley... Sid Halley, former British jump racing champion and private detective, is not having a good time. His wife Marina has decided she needs some time out of their marriage to think about the future and Sid is devastated. But then Gary Bremner, an ex-jockey trainer, calls him to ask for his help - he is being threatened by someone in the racing world and he needs a friend he can trust. However, the very next morning, Gary's stable yard is torched, horses killed, and Gary has disappeared. Determined to uncover the truth and to help his friend, Sid starts to investigate. He soon finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that cuts to the very heart of the integrity of British horse racing, and then danger comes closer to home than ever. Can Sid get to the bottom of what's going on before he too becomes a victim, while, at the same time, saving his marriage? Praise for Felix Francis's novels 'As usual with a Francis, once I opened the book, I didn't want to put it down... Felix's resolution is darker and more shocking than his father would ever have contemplated, but reflects grittier times and changing tastes in fiction' Country Life 'He has become his own man as a purveyor of murder mysteries' The Racing Post 'The Francis flair is clear for all to see' Daily Mail 'From winning post to top of the bestseller list, time after time' Sunday Times 'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life 'A tremendous read' Woman's Own

New York Times-bestselling author Felix Francis returns with another nail-biting thriller in the Dick Francis tradition. It is said that everyone over a certain age can remember distinctly what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy had been assassinated, or that Princess Diana had been killed in a Paris car crash, but I, for one, could recall all too clearly where I was standing when a policeman told me that my wife had been murdered. Bill Russell is acting as a volunteer steward at Warwick races when he confronts his worst nightmare--the violent death of his much-loved wife. But, the aftermath proves much worse when he is accused of killing her and then hounded mercilessly by the media. Losing his job and in danger of losing his home too, Bill's life begins to unravel completely. Even his best friends turn against him, thinking him guilty of the heinous crime, despite the lack of any compelling evidence. As Bill sets out to clear his name, he finds that proving one's innocence isn't easy. He believes he can track down the true culprit, but can he prove it before he becomes the murderer's next victim? Guilty Not Guilty is a journey of greed and jealousy set against the grief of personal tragedy, with many a twist and turn along the way.

New York Times--bestselling author Felix Francis returns with his newest edge-of-your-seat horseracing thriller in the Dick Francis tradition. Harrison Foster, a crisis manager for a London firm, is summoned to Newmarket after a fire in the Chadwick Stables kills six very valuable horses, including the short-priced favorite for the Derby. There is far more to the "simple" fire than initially meets the eye...for a start, human remains are found among the equestrian ones in the burnt-out shell. All the stable staff are accounted for, so who is the mystery victim? Harry knows very little about horses, indeed he positively dislikes them, but he is thrust unwillingly into the world of thoroughbred racing, where the standard of care of the equine stars is far higher than that of the humans who attend to them. The Chadwick family is a dysfunctional racing dynasty. Resentment between the generations is rife and sibling rivalry bubbles away like volcanic magma beneath a thin crust of respectability. Harry represents the Middle Eastern owner of the Derby favourite and, as he delves deeper into the unanswered questions surrounding the horse's demise, he ignites a fuse that blows the volcano sky-high. Can Harry solve the riddle before he is bumped off by the fallout?

"A novel set in the world of horse racing, from the author of DICK FRANCIS'S DAMAGE and DICK FRANCIS'S FRONT RUNNER, written in the style of, and so as to appeal to the readers of, those titles"--

Jefferson Hinkley is back in the newest thriller in the Dick Francis tradition, this time on a special mission to the United States to investigate a conspiracy involving the biggest horse races in the country. Jeff Hinkley, investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, has been seconded to the US Federal Anti-Corruption in Sports Agency (FACSA) where he has been asked to find a mole in their organization—an informant who is passing on confidential information to those under suspicion in American racing. At the Kentucky Derby, Jeff joins the FACSA team in a raid on a horse trainer’s barn at Churchill Downs, but the bust is a disaster, and someone ends up dead. Then, on the morning of the Derby itself, three of the most favored horses in the field fall sick. These suspicious events can be no coincidence. In search of answers, Jeff goes undercover as a groom on the backstretch at Belmont Park racetrack in New York. But he discovers far more than he was bargaining for: corrupt individuals who will stop at nothing—including murder—to capture the most elusive prize in world sport, the Triple Crown.

British investigator Jefferson Hinkley is back in this compelling Dick Francis thriller by the New York Times–bestselling author of Crisis. In his role as an undercover investigator for the British Horseracing Authority, Jeff Hinkley is approached by a multi-time champion jockey to discuss the delicate matter of losing races on purpose. Little does he know that the call will set off a lethal chain of events, including the apparent suicide of the jockey and an attempt on Hinkley’s own life. Never one to leave suspicious events alone, Hinkley begins investigating the jockey and the races he may have thrown. But there are others out there who intend to prevent his inquiry from probing further...at any cost.

Six years ago, private investigator Sid Halley retired. He’d been harassed, beaten, shot, even lost a hand—enough was enough. For the sake of his wife and new daughter, he gave up that life, and he thought nothing would ever lure him back into the game. He thought wrong. Sir Richard Stewart, chairman of the racing authority, begs Sid to investigate a series of dodgy races. Sid refuses. Then Sir Richard is found dead under suspicious circumstances. And then a man with an Irish accent contacts Sid, telling him to deliver a whitewashed report about the suspected race-fixing…or else. At first Sid ignores these warnings. But as the intimidation tactics escalate—and his own family comes under threat—Sid realizes he must meet his enemy head-on…or he might pay the ultimate price for his refusal.

Another great best-selling mystery from the grand master of the genre... When race caller and television presenter Mark Shillingford calls a race in which his twin sister, Clare, an accomplished and successful jockey, comes in second when she could have won, he believes the worst: that she lost on purpose, and the race was fixed. That night, Mark confronts Clare with his suspicions, she storms off after an argument - and it’s the last time Mark sees her alive. Hours later, Clare jumps to her death from the balcony of a London hotel...or so it seems. Devastated and guilty over her death, Mark goes in search of answers. What had led Clare to take her own life? Or was it not suicide at all?

Felix Francis continues his father's New York Times- bestselling legacy with another edge-of-your-seat read that's classic Francis. Nicholas "Foxy" Foxton, a former jockey who suffered a career- ending injury, is out for a day at the Grand National races when his friend and coworker Herb Kovak is murdered, execution style, right in front of him-and 60,000 other potential witnesses. Foxton and Kovak were both independent financial advisers at Lyall & Black, a firm specializing in extreme-risk investments. As he struggles to come to terms with Kovak's seemingly inexplicable death, Foxton begins to question everything, from how well he knew his friend to how much he understands about his employer. Was Kovak's murder a case of mistaken identity...or something more sinister?

Shell-shocked after losing a foot during his tour in Afghanistan, Captain Tom Forsyth returns to his estranged mother's house. His mother has always put horses first and family last. But now she's being blackmailed for a hefty sum every week and being forced to make her horses lose. Using the skills he honed in the military, Tom sets out to find and defeat a hidden enemy before his mother's reputation is ruined, and he ends up back in the crossfire.

Ned Talbot is a small-time bookmaker on the edge of giving it all up when his world is turned upside down by a man who claims to be his father, long thought dead. And when the mysterious stranger is murdered, Ned feels compelled to find out exactly what is going on. But the more he discovers, the longer the odds become for his survival.

A lawyer and amateur jockey is torn between doing what’s right and what will keep him alive in this New York Times bestselling thriller from Dick and Felix Francis. Geoffrey Mason wasn’t terribly disappointed when his client Julian Trent was found guilty. Despite being paid handsomely as Trent’s defense counsel, he believes Trent needs to be locked up for a good long time. He only wishes it had happened more quickly—if the trial had ended just a bit earlier, Mason could have made it to the Foxhunter Steeplechase and fulfilled his longtime dream as an amateur jockey. But not long afterward, Trent is set free when witnesses and jurors start recanting—under intimidation, Mason suspects. Remembering Trent’s threats at the time of his conviction, Mason is none too happy. And things only get worse when one of Mason’s fellow jockeys is found dead...

On the heels of Under Orders, ?Francis once again proves himself a master. Wow.? (BOOKLIST) Max Moreton is a rising culinary star?until his guests fall victim to severe food poisoning?and then a bomb blast rips through the luncheon he?s catering. Two close calls are too close for comfort, and Max vows to protect his name, and himself, before it?s too late.