Having only read a few of Dick Francis’ books, I am enjoying reacquainting myself with his writings. “Dead Cert” is Dick Francis' first novel, and it is a good one. Francis was a highly successful jockey, and then when he retired he using that knowledge to start writing books which usually involve horses or racing in some way. His stories are well crafted and cleverly plotted. His characters are realistic and likable. If you have never read Dick Francis, you really should give them a chance.

Yeah, I spent my holiday break from school reading Dick Francis. It was good.

Dick Francis: What a great writer. Now and then I'll reread one. I try to wait a long time because they're so memorable. Dead Cert is more than half a century old, and shows its age. Would you believe a fleet of taxis directed by radio from a central location being described as a brilliant innovation? But terrific characters, terrific suspense, and the wonderful world of steeplechase horse racing in England add up as usual to an eagerly read novel -- even the second or third time around.

I love murder mysteries and this is a great one. Dick Francis was a champion steeplechase jockey before becoming a writer. His love and knowledge of the sport shines throughout the novel. He throws readers directly into the action. The protagonist, Alan York is hilarious. He is witty, smart and self-deprecating. When Alan's best friend and fellow jockey is murdered during a horse race, he decides to chase down the killer and solve the case. Is it high art? No, but it is a cracking good mystery and a ton of fun to read.

I was inspired to revisit Dick Francis after watching a race-horse themed episode of Murder, She Wrote (Guest star: Lynn Redgrave, suspected murderer: the pet dog). Francis books hold up so well to my memory. It speaks to Francis's skill as a writer that I have no real interest in either horses or racing but I eat these books up. This is his first mystery and focuses on an amateur jockey who investigates the death via racing accident of one of his friends. The plot moves quickly and Francis makes the racing world come vividly to life. There's an act or retribution in the final chapter that feels just a little too long, but overall a great mystery read.

I had never tried a Dick Francis novel before so thought I might as well start with one of his biggies. Unfortunately I'm not sure it says much for the rest of his back catalogue, as it was a well told story ruined by a naff ending. I like books that have me guessing right to the end, and then the baddie turns out to be the last person you suspected. Whereas this one was right out of the Scooby Doo school of detecting. I guessed it early on and hoped desperately that I was being deliberately led up the wrong path, but was ultimately disappointed.

Good points about the book included a straightforward, readable style, a narrator I was happy to root for in his quest for justice, despite his being an old colonial toff, and an interesting insight into horse racing, as well as dodgy cabs. The age of the book showed in its 'stiff upper lip' style (the discovery that the narrator was only 24 had me choking on my cornflakes - he came across as nearer 54), and the fact that it could never have happened in the modern day of the mobile phone. In particular, the pursuit sequence late on in the book would have been impossible, but that's in no way a bad thing.

Dead Cert is the first Dick Francis novel, originally published in 1962. These mysteries centered around the world of horse racing, has no trouble standing the test of time.

Alan York, steeplechaser, loses his best friend in what looks like a tragic accident. But, Alan discovers that someone engineered the accident, killing his friend and leaving behind a widow and several children. When Alan begins asking questions, he becomes a target himself.

A good solid mystery that deals with the underbelly of horse racing and gambling. There is also a touch of romance involved.

Although this book was published many years ago, it is written in such a way that you would never know it.

Overall this one is a A+ all the way.

Debut books used to be much better crafted than now. This is tightly plotted, well-paced, & a cracking good yarn. It has all the usual elements of a Dick Francis thriller: horses, racing, the solitary, rather aloof MC who is bowled over by love-at-first-sight. Is this how Dick felt about Mary when they first met, I wonder.

Jockeys are being killed by a new player in the game. Alan York is trying to find out what really happened to his friend when he is warned off & the game becomes more deadly for him. The antagonist is quite surprising & Admiral is a wonder-horse. Loved it.

Ihanaa vanhanajan tunnelmaa ja hevoselämää. Viihdyin taas kerran. Mutta huutonaurua sai aikaiseksi kun bullterrierin jälkeen oli *)-merkintä ja sivun alareunassa suomentajan huomautus, että kyseessä on bulldogin ja mäyräkoiran risteytys. Aaaahahahahaha! Ei hemmetti, mistä ihmeestä se tuommoisen tiedon nyt on saanu vai oliko keksinyt itse. :D :D :D Rotu on kuitenkin erittäin tunnettu brittirotu 1800-luvulta asti ja ensimmäinen bulli oli Suomeenkin tullut jo 1961. Ei kovin kummoista selvitystä siis oltu tehty. Ois vaan kannattanu jättää koko anekdootti tekemättä. :D

Bill Davidson has everything--a doting wife, three adoring children, the best hunter 'chaser in the country, a reputation as the best amateur steeplechase jockey going, and more than enough money to finance it all. Then one day, his prize horse Admiral takes a nasty fall during a race, and Bill Davidson winds up dead. Everyone shrugs it off as an unfortunate accident--everyone, that is, except Alan York, best friend to the dearly departed. Alan's convinced there was something not quite right about Bill's fall, and he's determined to get to the bottom of it. But Alan finds out the hard way that asking questions can have unpleasant consequences, and could end up costing him everything . . .

Once again, Dick Francis brings his considerable racing experience to bear in this excellent mystery. Or perhaps I shouldn't say 'once again', since this is actually the first of Francis's horse-racing mysteries. It is easily one of his best. This is due at least in part to the fact that the bad guy ends up having a fairly normal, believable motive. Many of his other mysteries rely rather heavily on psycho killers who are motivated by little more than madness or pure evil--a lazy solution, to my way of thinking. A more complex villain--one with whom the reader can, at least in some sense, identify, is a much stronger choice. I'm pleased to report that we get just such a villain here, though there are certainly hints of Francis's coming predilection for crazy villains. But fortunately, it doesn't come to full fruition here.

As always, the story intersects with the racing world in some way--in this case both the victim and the hero are amateur jockeys, and much of the action centers around their racing activities. However, we do get a bit of a glimpse into the intricacies of protection rackets, bookmaking, and taxicab companies along the way.

Every time I read a Dick Francis mystery, I find myself wondering why more of his works haven't been adapted for film or television. Turns out, this one has (though I've no idea how it turned out). Still, Francis's books seem ready made for a more visual medium--they're action packed, with just the right blend of romance and thrills, and the leading men always seem like plum Hollywood roles.

In this case, our hero is Alan York, the likable son of a successful trader. He's ridiculously wealthy, but his unconventional upbringing in Africa prevented him from becoming spoiled or pampered--and in fact equipped him with courage, sleuthing skills, and a certain amount of physical prowess which he will most definitely need before the story's done. It's a wonder that such a matrimonial catch hasn't been snapped up. Enter Kate--vibrant, innocent, and newly gifted with a horse of her own. Alan falls for her but hard; she, on the other hand, is in no hurry to rush into anything. And unfortunately, Alan's got his hands full trying to solve the mystery of his best friend's death, which is something of a challenge when everyone else thinks it was anything other than a tragic accident. Still, he's not deterred. One way or another, he'll figure out whodunit.

If you love a good mystery, Francis is your man. And if you're new to Francis, this isn't a bad place to start.

"Dead Cert" wasn't the first Dick Francis book I read--that honor belongs to "The Danger"--but it's his first novel in what would turn out to be a long and storied career, so it seems fitting to start my "classics of Dick Francis" retrospective with it.

Reading "Dead Cert" after becoming familiar with Francis's later works--and I've read all Francis's fictional works, some of them many times--is a bit of an odd experience. It has many of the elements that Francis would go on to turn into a recognizable and influential franchise, but in only semi-finished form: a first-person narrator who is a young-ish, thrill-loving Englishman connected to the world of horse racing; bad deeds sullying the honor of British steeplechasing; a plot, that for all that it is anchored in the rather stuffy, upper-class world of British horseracing, is nonetheless slightly zany, kinky, and off-beat; exciting and unexpected action sequences--Alan York, the hero, has to escape from the bad guys, who are chasing him in radiocar taxis, by galloping off bareback on his champion steeplachaser--and, the thing that holds it all together and transforms it from a rather silly action thriller into a genuine work of literature: a keen awareness of physical and emotional reality.

Indeed, Francis flexes his descriptive muscles in the opening paragraph, which is striking, although, it must be said, flabby in comparison with the bombshell openers of his later works:

"The mingled smells of hot horse and cold river mist filled my nostrils. I could hear only the swish and thud of galloping hooves and the occasional sharp click of horseshoes striking against each other."

For anyone who has ever ridden a horse in damp weather, the sounds and sensations are unmistakably authentic; for anyone who has not done so, well, that's what it's like. Francis had an intense sense of both the outer physical world and the inner emotional world of humans and horses (the horse Admiral is a significant character in "Dead Cert," as he should be), something that comes across on the pages on this, his first serious attempt at fiction. He knew what it was like to gallop a hot horse on a chill day, and, more importantly, he knew how to convey that to the reader.

In fact, (re)reading Francis right now brings up some interesting thoughts for me, as I wade into the polemics surrounding war literature, a genre that is unique in the jealous guardianship it has by those with first-hand experience of the topic being described. But merely rattling off a series of acronyms or jargon terms, interspersed with cliches about dirt and pain, tends to give the illusion of authentic description rather than the reality of a genuine connection between author and reader. Francis succeeds in conveying the outer and inner worlds of his heroes by his comfortable inhabitance of their society, but also, more importantly, by his understanding of precisely what it would feel like, physically and mentally, to go through what they went through, even when he himself was only guessing. His guesses, though, were always grounded on something real: he may not have lived his heroes' lives, but he must have known with every fiber of his being what it was to feel pain and fear, and is one of the modern masters of conveying those sensations.

In "Dead Cert" Francis was only just beginning to hit his stride. Alan York is an enjoyable, sympathetic protagonist, but he lacks the damaged depth of Francis's later heroes, or their terrifying struggles with their own mortality. If Francis had stopped with "Dead Cert," he would not be the household name he is today. But it's a good break from the starting gate even so.

The main guy is supposed to be an amateur Sherlock Holmes, but he does too many stupid things to be enjoyable.

STORY BRIEF:
Alan has a good relationship with his father who is extremely wealthy, so Alan doesn’t need to work. He spends his time as a jockey riding steeple chase horses. He lives with his friend Bill and Bill’s wife and children. The book opens with Bill riding the lead horse in a race. A bad guy strings wire over a jumping fence which causes Bill’s horse to fall, killing Bill. Alan is right behind Bill and sees the wire, not knowing what it is at that time. Alan investigates Bill’s murder. Someone wants Alan to stop investigating and threatens him.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
The cover of the book says “Dick Francis The Grand Master of Crime Fiction.” Sorry, but I disagree. Too much illogic and stupidity. Alan’s father tells others “Alan has a Sherlock-Holmes-type nature. He is good at sniffing out trouble and bad guys.” Well, I don’t recall Sherlock Holmes doing stupid things. Sure Alan figures out who the bad guys are and causes them to get caught, but he does stupid things along the way.

Stupidity examples:
1. Alan sees the wire that killed Bill. At the time he’s not sure what it is. Does he immediately go to the authorities to investigate? No. He spends hours at the hospital with Bill’s wife, and then later goes to the race course to investigate. He sees the wire. Does he take a picture of it or take someone with him as a witness? No. He goes away and brings someone back later, and by that time it’s gone. The local policeman questions a few race course employees, but he doesn’t do any more investigating. The reason is there is no second witness to the wire. Also, why did the bad guy wait hours before removing the wire? Not logical.

2. Thugs attack Alan telling him to stop investigating. He receives more threats. He is about to run another race, and he expects the bad guys will put up a wire to take him down. His thinking is “I don’t want the other jockeys to get hurt, so I’ll stay in front and take the wire.” STUPID!!!! He is wealthy. He could easily hire some private investigator or body guard types to hide near the various jumping fences with cameras. They could take pictures of bad things happening and probably prevent it. Did he do anything like that? No. Instead, his horse hit the wire, he fell on the ground, got tromped by other horses, and then a bad guy walks up and kicks him in the head and ribs, giving him amnesia, a concussion, and broken ribs on top of the other injuries. Would Sherlock Holmes do that? No.

3. Alan knows a bad guy is sitting in his office, has a gun, and wants Alan dead. Alan’s weapon is a roll of coins in a bag. Alan goes to the bad guy, plans to sneak up on him and hit him before he can be shot. Why doesn’t Alan take a better weapon or someone with him?

Incomplete ending:
Alan has a scuffle with a bad guy. The bad guy gets injured, but the book ends without saying what the injury is. Is the guy dead or alive? Will there be evidence to put him away? We don’t know. The happy ending is “Alan didn’t get injured in that scuffle.”

Unsupported romance thrown in:
This felt like the author threw in a romance without paying attention. It wasn’t realistic. Alan meets Kate. He thinks she is beautiful. They have two dates: one out to dinner and one at her home. He kisses her once. She kisses like a sister. He looks forward to awakening her passionate nature later. He tells her he loves her and wants to marry her. He proposes more than once. There was no character development about her. Does she have anything upstairs? She never said anything of interest. I don’t know what they talked about. What made him love her? This needed some dialogue.

No cell phones:
This was published in 1962, before cell phones. Frequently I thought how different this story would be if Alan had a cell phone. I suppose it is interesting to be reminded of what life was like without them.

My favorite part:
I really liked the story about Tompkins who owned a local bar. Thugs beat him up and destroyed his property. They wanted weekly extortion money. I liked what he did to protect himself and what he did with other local shop owners. He did smart things that worked. He was my hero. But his story wasn’t big enough. It was a minor side story.

NARRATOR:
I will probably avoid the narrator Tony Britton if I can. I think he would be ok for British people, but his British accent was hard for me to understand. I had to concentrate and pay careful attention. It took energy. Hearing American speak is easier and more enjoyable for me. Some reviewers complained about his voice for the drunk character Joe. I didn’t like it either, but it was only a few scenes. My problem was his narration of the whole book. Don’t get me wrong. I love to hear people speak with a British accent in conversation, but for some unknown reason it didn't work for me in this book.

DATA:
Unabridged audiobook reading time: 8 hrs and 9 mins. Swearing language: none that I recall. Sexual content: none. Setting: around 1960 England. Book copyright: 1962. Genre: mystery suspense. Ending: happy although incomplete.