Thirteen short stories. Francis is a good writer. The compilation of stories were one’s he wrote for magazines and newspapers over the years. Some were amusing others sad. Carrot for a Chestnut was sad in you cannot chose your family. Spring Fever when infatuation leads to bad decision making. I am glad she got her revenge as with Corkscrew. I mean who trusts a lawyer!

Raid at Kingdom Hill is educational in never wear orange socks.

Dead on Red was excellent with an assassin getting his deserved ends and Gypsy Joe escaping death.

Song for Mona was poignant and how you cannot chose your children or your father.

Bright White Star shows what happens when you upset a tramp.

Collision Course a homage to editors and the power of the press.

Nightmare a criminal gets his just desserts.

The Gift shows the danger of drinking.

Blind chance oh to be a finishing line race photographer.

All entertaining stories some better than others.

This is a collection of thirteen short stories that were originally published in a diverse number of newspapers and magazines, including Sports Illustrated and The Times of London. Most are set in the UK, but a couple are set here in the U.S. Virtually all of them have a connection of some sort to the world of horse racing.

The stories are very well-crafted and in most cases involve a twist of fate that leaves someone's carefully-laid plans in ruins. They are populated by a lot of grifters and innocent victims, and there's a fair amount of wry humor running through them as well. The stories have held up very well over the years, and this collection should appeal to a lot of readers as well as to fans of Dick Francis, who certainly should not miss this one.

Francis for the Win!

For fans new and old. Francis brings the horse racing world to life in these short stories. Each tale challenges your view of winning and losing all the way to the finish line.

Dick Francis is one of my cozy mystery favorites

This book of short stories reminds me of O. Henry's works! The book includes 13 short stories. Many tell about the subculture of horse racing, in the US and in England. A few have wonderful surprise endings!

PLOT OR PREMISE:
A collection of thirteen short stories, eight of which were published previously in various magazines.
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WHAT I LIKED:
"- Dead on Red - A contract killer kills a jockey for another jockey, but the results are not quite what the surviving jockey had desired. (4.00/5.00)
- Song for Mona - A snobbish daughter is ashamed of her mother's life and history while others find her charming and praise her. (4.00/5.00)
- Collision Course - An editor loses his job and runs into snobs who won't let him park his boat at their restaurant while he has dinner with three publishers. Turns out the owner is a up-and-comer who needs to win an upcoming race in order to attract horses to his farm. An interesting battle develops. (4.00/5.00)
- Carrot for a Chestnut - Fixing a race by doping the horse with a doctored carrot. With a great twist at the end. (3.50/5.00)
- Blind Chance - A man has a perfect way to know the outcomes of photo-finish races, and to make money on it. Until disaster strikes. (4.00/5.00)
- Corkscrew - An honest man is charged with a crime and his lawyer swindles his parents out of the bail money. He doesn't count on the road to justice being somewhat long and windy. (3.75/5.00)
- The Day of the Losers -- Money from an old robbery is the glue that holds this story together as the police attempt to fix a race in order to catch a crook. There are twists all around at the end. (3.50/5.00)
- Haig's Death - All the people who have their fates resting on the outcome of a race are all affected when the decision falls to the judge, whose fate has already been decided. Multiple storylines all leading to a combined finish. (3.50/5.00)"
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
"- Raid at Kingdom Hill - A bomb scare at the racetrack, and money goes missing during the chaos. (2.00/5.00)
- Bright White Star - The theft of a horse from an auction and a wandering tramp who is displaced from his home on the land...includes a great set-up/intro though -- ""Write us a story,"" they said. I asked, ""What about?"" ""About three thousand words,"" they replied. (2.00/5.00)
- Nightmare - A horse thief is running from his past where his father was killed during a theft. (2.50/5.00)
- The Gift - A down-and-out alcoholic journalist finds the horseracing story of the century, but may be too drunk to write it. (2.00/5.00)
- Spring Fever - A woman falls in love with her jockey and is taken advantage of, at first. (2.50/5.00)"
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BOTTOM-LINE:
An average Francis collection
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, nor did I follow him on social media.

Very good the stories are lovely short reads

I don't much like short stories......but these are goof!

13 short stories, if you like Dick Francis, you'll like these, and even if you don't usually like him, you may well like some of these, there are clever 'collection of circumstances' in some of these.

3-Apr-99

Not my favorite. Most of these stories were written in the seventies when Francis was going for a more hard-boiled feel with pickpockets and grifters. They're fine stories, just not as good as the later novels.

personal copy

I love Dick Francis's novels, but I don't think he's really meant for short stories. His stories here have a lot of tell-don't-show going on, and little of the intense physical and emotional struggle that makes his novels so exciting and great. A couple are quite good; a lot of them are rather lackluster.

More specifically (*=favorite):
Raid on Kingdom Hill--Kind of funny and twisty, but nothing that riveting. I just was not that invested.
Dead on Red--Starts with a very stereotyped Romani character and continues on to an immensely disappointing ending. My least favorite in the book.
Song for Mona--I want to enjoy Mona's snobby daughter getting some comeuppance but the ending was just disturbing. Unsure how to feel.
Bright White Star--Karma's a bitch, I guess! Still not super plotty or exciting.
*Collision Course--No crimes but a lot of fun, just interpersonal drama between a newspaperman, a horse trainer, and a restaurant owner.
Nightmare--The twist felt a bit of a letdown; I sort of wanted to see the villain win bc I felt kind of bad for him.
Carrot for a Chestnut--Very tense, but kind of a huge downer. Still, kept me invested in how things would turn out.
The Gift--Super depressing, tho the crime plotline was kind of fun to follow.
Spring Fever--Love sucks, doesn't it? Did enjoy the ending tho.
Blind Chance--Dick Francis doesn't seem to understand blindness? Fun little ending though.
Corkscrew--Overall boring characters but I do love a story focused on finances (for example, I think Risk is one of my favorite Dick Francis novels).
*The Day of the Losers--I liked Jerry, poor dude. Probably for the best that he's retiring.
*Haig's Death--Kind of wild. I love how in some of these stories, Francis will kind of throw a bunch of characters with their own problems together in a wild tangle on a race day and show you how the outcome of the race, and the day's events, will affect everyone's lives (same goes for "The Day of the Losers" and "Collision Course", my other faves in this book, and also for "Raid on Kingdom Hill" and "The Gift", tho I liked them less). The fantasy of "nothing that happened today counts" can be escapist or frustrating depending on how you look at it, and Francis has a lot of fun with that here.

Overall very interesting seeing Francis work in a different medium, but I think he's better in long form.

The only volume of short stories,penned by Duck Francis,late in his career.The ingredients are very familiar,might have enjoyed it more if I hadn't already read so much Francis.