Dead Cert follows Alan York, an amateur jockey and part-time commodities trader , as he tries to uncover the conspiracy that let to his friend Major Bill Davidson's death.

The story itself is engaging and immersive but a definite product of the 1960s. So in some ways it reads like historical fiction as well.

I really enjoyed this story as it went at almost a breakneck pace. The inciting incident happens in the first five pages, and the story takes off from there. However, as a warning, the ending of this book is dark and will not be for everyone. If you don't appreciate a dose of darkness if your mysteries I'd steer clear.

Alan as a character provides an interesting insight into the "gentleman" jockeys of the era. Throughout the story he comes across more Poirot than bumbling amateur detective. The side characters are all pretty one dimensional, and our antagonist is definitely not the most memorable villain.

However, the climax of the story is awesome and definitely got my pulse racing while I was trying to wind down for bed.

I recommend you at least trying Dick Francis to see how you like his style, but I'm no longer dreading reading more of his books.

I thought the book was a good read. This book explored Alan York, the main character seeking out answers of why his close friend, Major Davidson, was tragically murdered during a steeple chase. The book showed his journey and the twist and turns as he was getting closer to answering his question on why Davidson was murdered. I enjoyed reading the journey of Alan York getting himself into trouble with the wrong people, even though that wasn’t the intention. Kate, an owner of a horse that Alan rode, was the second most important character in the book. She was unpredictable in the story and so was her Aunt and Uncle. They all added curveballs to the book that made the book enjoying and fun to read. The book had ended like I predicted, although I was hoping it wouldn’t. It still made a great murder mystery that I enjoyed reading. I gave it a 3 star because it was a good book that I enjoyed reading. It explored an locations and a different kind of culture that I was unfamiliar with. I would recommend reading this if you want to get into reading murder mysterys. It is a great book to read.

Dick Francis is a superb example of the old writing adage to "Write what you know." Francis knew horses--up, down, and sideways. His main characters cover virtually every aspect of the business of British horseracing--jockeys, of course, from beginners to champions, trainers, stable boys, bloodstock agents, and on, and on. About the only vocation he missed, as far as I can tell, was that of valet--the men responsible for looking after a jockey's gear. Even his earliest books were well plotted, well paced, had good characters, and kept me, at least, enthralled to the last page. After writing a couple dozen excellent mysteries, he leaped onto the bestseller lists with REFLEX, and did so consistently thereafter. Dean Koontz, in his book WRITING BEST-SELLING FICTION, stated that this was due to his publishers finally giving his books extensive advertising, but I think that an additional factor was that he began regularly including a second, interesting subject, alongside the horsiness, such as photography, computer programming, gemstones, the wine business, and so on. He had done this to a certain extent in some of his previous books, but from REFLEX on, the secondary subject was thoroughly researched and made up a good portion of the story. He had a marvelous knack of weaving an incredible amount of information into his storylines, and making it interesting and fun to read. I happen to be a teetotaler, but I found his book PROOF absolutely fascinating.

This first book of the series hurls you straight into the action, right in the midst of a steeplechase that suddenly goes terribly wrong. Seeking the truth of the matter, our hero gets drawn further and further into a web of wickedness, and the end of the book (as with virtually all of his other books) becomes a harrowing, nail-biting ride to a thrilling finish.

If you like good mysteries, you can't go wrong with these, even if you're not particularly interested in horses. A book by Dick Francis is always a "dead cert".

Second time around

This is my second time reading Dick Francis Dead Cert the last time was approx 30 years ago hoping to work through the full works again . This did not disappoint and there where parts of the book I did not remember at all it was like meeting up with old friends again most enjoyable

Looking for a book whose plot is faster than a steeplechase horse? This is your book. In fact, if you want to read great writing devoid of sex and profanity, this is your book.

Alan York is an amateur steeplechase jockey at a racetrack in rural England. New to the area, York lives with his friend, Bill Davidson, Bill’s wife, and three children.

While racing with his friend, Bill, one day at the track, Alan sees Bill and the horse go down hard. He has a suspicion that the terrain didn’t trip the horse. Instead, he surmises, someone stretched a thin wire across its path. The fall killed Davidson, and it’s up to Alan York to convince law-enforcement authorities that someone murdered his friend.

My only objection to this book was the insta-love romance thing between Alan York and a girl named Kate who received a racehorse for her birthday from a doting uncle. It’s two-dimension cardboard cutout romance stuff the author could have easily left out, and the book wouldn’t have suffered.

There’s plenty of suspense here, some concussion and amnesia action, and it will keep you racing through the pages and not jumping over any chapters.

If you are going to insist on writing 58 crime dramas specifically about horse racing, well, this is a great start.

Dead Cert, the first novel by DF, and it held true to form with many of his others I've read. All of his plots that I am familiar with revolve around horse racing, and he certainly knows the sports good and bad sides. This story had a good plot, setting good against evil, with the predicable outcome. I did find the story somewhat predictable, but the strength of the characters carries it to the finish line.

When I was growing up, certain names were part of the book landscape. In the library, those book-of-the-month club ads, magazines, I'd always see the same names: Christie, Simenon, Francis...but for some reason I never picked one up. Which is weird, because the horse thing started earlier and lasted longer for me than for some kids. I'm sure if I'd actually checked Francis out then I'd have devoured them all, just as I did all the ones I could find in the 1980s.

I decided to begin at the beginning, and as this book was written the year I was born, it felt like "fate." Nah...not really. But I've always wanted to say that. It was a decent read, as all of the earlier Francis novels are: cleancut heroes, pretty girls, rubbing shoulders with and sometimes being one of the very rich. Upper middle class wishfulfillment stuff, but at least in the earlier novels not too much in the way of sex and violence. Later though...but we'll get to that. Right now I just need some mental popcorn, as insomnia has again reared its ugly head in my life.

If I'm not mistaken, this is the first racing thriller Francis, and while the foreshadowing clunks a bit in spots, it is a decent read. The "chase scene" was at least original, and in Francis' world, of course a killer (even a bespoke one) has to be insane. There's been some debate in the past few years as to "who wrote them, Francis or his wife" but whoever did, they made a decent job of it.

First published in 1962, this is the book that started Dick Francis on his career as a novelist.
Francis was forty-two at the time, a veteran of World War II, and a former steeplechase jockey himself. Virtually all of his novels take place in and around the world of British horseracing. While he repeats the same character only a couple of times, virtually all of his protagonists are the same sort of man--relatively young, intelligent, determined, courageous, and somewhat aloof--at least until the point where they might the right woman and then, often as not, it's love at first sight.

Early on in the course of each novel, the protagonist discovers some glaring injustice and determines to investigate. Inevitably, he antagonizes the wrong person and finds his own health and well-being in grave jeopardy. Often there is some powerful, sinister force, directing events from behind the scene, and our hero must root him out.

In this case, the protagonist is Alan York, an amateur steeplechase rider. He comes from a moneyed family in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and when he's not riding, he works in this father's shipping firm in London.

As the book opens, York is riding in a race alongside his best friend, Bill Davidson, who is riding a horse called Admiral. Davidson and Admiral are the heavy favorites in the race, a "dead cert" to win. But then, at the back of the course, Admiral trips over a fence. The horse goes down on top of Davidson, who will die as the result of the injury. York, riding right behind Davidson, saw something suspicious just before his friend fell. After the race, York goes back to the jump where Davidson fell and discovers that someone had stretched a wire across the top of the jump, causing the horse to fall and Davidson to be fatally injured.

By the time York can get someone in authority to examine the scene, the wire has been removed and there is no evidence that the horse was deliberately tripped. York knows this to be the case, however, and begins his own investigation. He discovers that someone has been attempting to fix races and the deeper he gets into the investigation, the more trouble he finds himself in. Before long, he discovers that he's in a contest of wills against a very dangerous adversary who will stop at nothing to preserve his criminal enterprise.

All in all, it's a good story. As in all of these books, one learns a great deal about the world of British horse racing, and the novel should appeal to anyone who enjoys classic British crime fiction.

This was Francis' first mystery novel. It must've been like a bolt in the blue in 1962, in the time before JFK's assassination, the Beatles or security cameras at British racetracks. And yes, you could get assaulted during a race on a British steeplechase track without any witnesses. That's how wild things were at the time.

Just look at the 1947 Grand National. Well ... you kind of can't, because a huge hunk of fog hit Aintree during the race. The most important horse race in the UK ... and no one knows if the winner actually completed the course. It is known that 57 horses started, and only 19 finished.

I read my first Francis mystery about 1987. I've read quite a few, so this one seemed old hat. Still, it's a jolly good read. I was surprised that the hero of Francis' first mystery novel wasn't English, but Rhodesian.

You may know the country better as Zimbabwe. It did not change its name until 1980.

I was three quarters of the way through this book when I realized I had seen the 1974 movie on Amazon Prime ages ago. However, the only 2 things I remembered from the film were:

* a young Dame Judi Dench going bra-less
* the steller performance of the steeplechaser Admiral played by Cornishman V, an eventing Olympic champion.

The movie does not follow the book.

One of the best debut mystery novels of the 1960's. I've seen some lower ratings and honestly... I think it's because this may not be everybody's "Cuppa Tea". This novel is one that could be filmed occurring now it just transcends the genre. The best way to describe this book would be to imagine Agatha Christie and Elmore Leonard going to see the movie "Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels".

I've read many of these books and this one finally showed up in my library. It follows (or rather sets) the pattern of most of his books, giving us a glimpse into the world of steeple chase while solving a mystery. This book is a bit slow in the middle compared to others, but the big reveal/chase sequence is one of his best. It was "riveting". G rated and very well written.