Dick Francis has died at the age of 89

[Philipnet]

Author Dick Francis dies aged 89


Writer Dick Francis, famous for his horse racing-based crime novels, has died aged 89, his family has said.

Francis, who wrote more than 40 best-selling novels during his career, was also champion jockey in the 1950s and the Queen Mother's jockey.

He first published his autobiography in 1957, and his first thriller, Dead Cert, followed five years later.

Francis's most recent works, including Dead Heat and Silks, were co-authored by his son Felix.

More here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...re/8515165.stm

[Rob McCow]

horse racing-based crime novels

He was a one-man genre. RIP.

[SiHart]

Well, actually you say that, there are lots of other pretenders to his throne of racing- based crime novels.

This isn't unexpected. Rumour has it much of his later work was written by his late wife and then, as Phil noted in conjunction with his son, but I'm sure this news will make his fans (of which there are many, believe me) very sad indeed.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

Sorry, I didn't mean that to come across in a derogatory way.

[Si Hunt]

Was it always a horse that was murdered?

Si.

[Jon Masters]

I've only read 2 of his books (or the same book twice) , so the running joke in our house when Mrs M reads one is 'Is that the one with the crooked vet in it ? '

Mr Francis clearly had an issue with crooked vets (or I've been very selective in the ones I read )

[Philipnet]

There might be a few crooked vets, but there's also a few cute ones - that's based on reading the story rather than seeing it , and multiple times that the hero has ended up in bed with them!

[MacNimon]

Sad news indeed, although he had a good innings at his 89 years. I've always been a big fan of Dick Francis work, and will miss new works from a man who surely was a master of his craft. Steve may have been right enough with his observation that Francis was a one-man genre...while others have added to the genre, none even manage to come close to Francis in terms of quality.

And while it's also easy to pigeon-hole Francis as a writer of thrillers based around the world of horse-racing, it's not strictly true either. Admittedly that's the case with many of his novels, but he's better described as a writer of thrillers connected with horses; and at times it's a very tenuous connection - such as an artist who likes painting horses, for example, being the horsey connection in In The Frame - but the plots more often than not revolve around other things such as hurricane-chasing, transport, catering, journalism, glass-blowing(!), banking and restraunts to name but a few...sure, some sound more interesting than others but Francis had the knack of bringing even the most mundane of subjects to life in an entertaining and exciting fashion. Even a typical by-the-numbers whodunnit set on a train trip across Canada, the type of subject covered by practically every thriller/mystery writer in the world, stands out.

I thought it was a nice touch, in that article linked above, where his family simply said that he died of old age. It's a phrase you hardly ever hear these days, when every minute detail of someone's illness/death is commonplace news on a daily basis.

Dick Francis, RIP. You will truly be missed by your many fans the world over.

[MacNimon]

One more thing, regarding Phil's comment about rumours of Francis' wife Mary writing some of his novels...while this statement isn't strictly true, there is more than an element of truth in it. It was one of the writing industry's worst-kept secrets, and in fact Francis didn't try to hide the fact. I remember reading in an interview a long time ago that Francis regarded himself as part of a writing partnership with his wife, who he wished to receive a co-writing credit on the novels she was involved with. But she repeatedly declined...it's notable that there was a gap of around 6 years or so between Francis novels after his wife died; and once he returned to writing, the new novels were to be co-written with his son Felix (who does get a co-writing credit on the cover).