FRANCIS, DICK

born Oct. 31, 1920, Tenby, Wales British mystery writer known for his realistic plots centred on the sport of horse racing. Francis was the son of a jockey, and in 1946 he took up steeplechase riding, turning professional in 1948. In 1957 he had an accident that cut short his riding career. That same year he published The Sport of Queens: The Autobiography of Dick Francis, and until 1973 he was a racing correspondent for London's Sunday Express. In 1962 Francis turned to fiction with a successful first novel, Dead Cert (filmed 1974). Thereafter he averaged a book a year, all set in the world of horse racing. His books usually feature an amateur sleuth who uses classic deductive reasoning to solve the central mystery and who becomes emotionally involved with the case. The typical Francis villain is a pretentious snob whose smooth exterior masks his vices. Among the novels are Nerve (1964) and Forfeit (1968), which won an Edgar (mystery writers) award for its tale of a disaffected racing correspondent who discovers a South African syndicate. Although Francis' readers had come to expect a certain amount of brutality in his work, by the 1980s he had begun to write more introspective novels. Beginning with Reflex (1980), the story of a mediocre jockey facing the end of his career, Francis began to examine his protagonists' inner torments. Critics welcomed this new subtlety. Later novels include Comeback (1991), Decider (1993), Come to Grief (1995), To the Hilt (1996), and 10 lb. Penalty (1997). Hot Money (1987) is considered one of his best works.