I have a real soft spot for Dick Francis. He and Agatha Christie started my romance with British mysteries, and I've read every single one of his books.

Dead Cert is his first, and it's pretty good. His later works are better written, but this has lots of horses, intrigue, and action. As always, his hero is unambiguously good, and surprisingly this bad guy is a lot more sympathetic than the later villains. (Let's not kid ourselves, he's still bad, but not as unequivocally evil as the later antagonists).

Did I mention the horses? Dick Francis, a former jockey, paints a vivid and realistic picture of British horse racing, and he writes horses as they are - with personalities distinctly their own.

I'm sure there are many who would find this book full of cliches (it is), cookie cutter (also a fair criticism), but I love the setting, the mystery and the horses.

What a fun read! Even after, what, 50 years? Wow. The author wrote the story without too much time-dated detail to distract from the story. The plot flowed smoothly, and the characters were well developed. I listened to the audiobook and the actor did a pretty good job as well.

Witless

Possibly the silliest book ever written, with an infantile plot and a worse ending. And the characters…! Enid Blyton writes a murder mystery. Actually, it was even more dated and out of touch than her work. The crass snobbery and elitism were bad enough even without the frankly insane plot, and if a feminist ever reads it she might fall down dead with rage. There were always rumours that Francis didn’t actually write his own books and I have to admit it seems impossible to believe that the same person who was responsible for this drivel could have written pretty decent offerings like Whip Hand or Come To Grief.

Dick Francis may not have been trying to earn literary awards, or communicating any life-changing truths with his writing, or pick apart the general public and/or it's attitudes/ideas/lifestyles. But he sure did know how to tell a great mystery story. His heroes are always kind, tough, clever, and very good, in a very basic, old-fashioned way. His plots are always engaging, with plenty of actual knowledge from the sport involved, since he was a jockey in a former life. His romances are very old-fashioned at times, but they are sweet, and with none of the extensive sex scenes that most books these days insist on having. (It sure is nice to get back to a time when that wasn't not only completely necessary to sell a book, but also the entire reason for the storyline in the first place!) And I find the world of British horse racing he describes to be a fascinating and exciting one.

I also rather like Francis's writing style. His spare prose never draws attention to itself; he writes in his genre very eloquently, very plainly, and very much like the gentleman I expect he was in his lifetime. After every book I read of his, I wish I could have met him, all over again. I expect there were not many men like Dick Francis around, either here or in England.

Dead Cert happens to be the first of Francis's many mysteries. One thing that Francis got better at over time was romance -- this one could probably be called cheesy, in someone else view. But the basic plot was great and I quite enjoyed this book as well as the others I've read. Also, I found it very refreshing to read a mystery that was written before the age of computers, cell phones, and DNA testing. Crime sleuthing was quite a different game back then.

The very first racing thriller penned by Dick Francis,which launched him on his bestselling career.A horse,which is heavily fancied to win,falls during a race and its jockey is killed.His friend investigates and finds himself in mortal danger.

An article in the Daily Telegraph stated Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis greatly admired Dick Francis’ work. I think I read all of his books when I was much younger so thought I would revisit. - started with his first. The formula soon came back amateur jockey with a different background - this one is from South Africa. A good yarn.

A re-read as a palate cleaner. Still love it as much. Wonderful language, great characterisation and perfect racing lore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1RWb...

Horse racing can be a dangerous sport, but it becomes a deadly one when a champion is killed.

The film doesn't build the suspense in the same way at all - the book was a corker!

Steeplechase jockey Alan York knows that the fall that his best friend, Bill Davidson, took in the race was not the accident it seemed. Something was very wrong. When his friend died of his injuries, leaving behind a devastated widow, Alan is determined to find who was behind the plan to cause the fall. He finds a plot more complicated and sinister than he suspected, and a villain prepared to kill rather than be exposed.
One of Dick Francis's most admirable heroes, plus a delightful love story makes this book one of my favorites. I highly recommend it.

My first Dick Francis novel & definitely not the last! This was a really fun, readable book that kept me engaged and was perfect for right before bed when I didn't have the focus for something weighty. I know almost nothing about horse racing and don't feel any need to learn more, but it didn't matter -- the main character was a cinnamon roll, and the mystery was sufficiently mysterious -- I was pretty sure about who was behind it all, and I was right, but that didn't detract from the book since it's not like the protagonist knew what genre he was in.

Alan, a steeplechase rider, has the horror of watching his friend Bill die right in front of him when his 'dead cert' winner of a horse falls at the last hurdle and lands on Bill. He then discovers that it wasn't the poor weather or an accident that kills Bill - but a deliberate act of sabotage. When he starts asking questions to find out who might've wanted to hurt Bill, he becomes entangled in a mess of crooked jockeys, a gang terrorising small businesses, and a taxi company - as well as in a competition to win the attention of a woman who might be involved, whether she wants to be or not.

In Francis' first novel it's completely possible to see all the elements that we love and recognise being woven into the DNA of his stories - the stoic, clever, inquisitive jockey; the fraternity of the horse racing community with its positives and negatives; the corruption of greed; the lovely lady tangentially involved in the world whose heart has to be won.

A typical Dick Francis read. All the characters are either very nice and helpful, or downright evil, there are no greys. And from time to time you want to read a story about good vs evil, rather than trying to navigate the greys in between. The protagonists are always likeable in Dick's novels, and its the same here.
Coming to this particular story, it was good suspense, some thrilling scenes, and a good ending. All in all a very enjoyable read.