Once a blacksmith, now famous and respected as a newspaperman, Valentine Clark knows everyone who is anyone in the racing world. Aged, confused, blind and dying, he harbors a daunting secret that he is desperate to be rid of.

The "hilt" of Francis's delightful 35th thriller refers to the jewel-encrusted, solid gold handle of the ceremonial sword of Scotland's would-be king, Bonnie Prince Charlie. A descendant of the Scottish earl to whom the prince gave the hilt, narrator Alexander Kinloch lives in an unelectrified bothy in the Scottish mountains, supporting himself through his paintings. Al's keen visual sense allows him to draw the faces of the four thugs who beat him...

When globe-hopping British ambassador Peter Darwin decides to determine why a vet friend has had too many "patients" die, he is caught in a web.

Max Moreton is a rising culinary star, until nearly all the guests who enjoyed one of his meals at a private catered affair fall victim to severe food poisoning. At his next obligation, an exclusive luncheon for forty in the glass-fronted private boxes at the 2,000 Guineas, a bomb blast rips through the private boxes, killing some of Max's trusted staff and many of the guests. Two close calls are too close for comfort, and Max vows to protect his...

From the New York Times–bestselling“master of crime fiction and equine thrills,” a former jockey takes on the crooked world of horse dealing (Newsday).
 
Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing.
 
For a generous commission, ex-prize-winning jockey Jonah Dereham reluctantly agrees to...

Sid knows the perils of racing all too well, but in his day jockeys didn't usually cross the finish line with three .38 rounds in the chest-which is how he found Huw Walker, the winner of a coveted race only a few hours earlier. Now Halley's quest for answers will push him to his very limits-both on and off the track.

From a New York Times–bestselling “master of crime fiction and equine thrills,” a jockey investigates the source of the rumors threatening his career (Newsday).
 
Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing.
 
Rob Finn is a talented young jockey on the rise, though nothing can help him rise above the...

Assigned to fly four racing buffs to the track, pilot Matt Shore is forced to make an emergency landing, and he soon finds out that the mob has been tampering with the horseracing industry.

A New York Times–bestselling mystery author is “at the top of his form” in this suspense novel about a horse racing family threatened with murder.
 
Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing.
 
In the middle of the night, two masked men break into Neil Griffon’s home and abduct him. He quickly discovers...

Captain Thomas Forsyth's tour of duty in Afghanistan is cut brutally short when he's badly wounded by a roadside bomb. Tom returns to his childhood home in Lambourn, where his mother is a racehorse trainer and the "First Lady" of racing. Never having seen eye-to-eye with her, Tom doesn't expect a hero's welcome but even he's not prepared for the reception that awaits him. When his mother's prize horse finishes a vastly disappointing last in a race...