Dick Francis’ Mysteries

It seems like Dick Francis has been writing forever. Considering his jockey career, that is obviously not true. But he has a very large collection of books he has written, most of which are still in print. He wrote most of them with his wife, although she was not credited on the cover. His last 2 have been done with his son, and thankfully the quality still seems to be quite high. I reviewed the latest in this post.

As one of the most popular writers in the world, I am one of the many people that waits for Dick Francis’ new work every year. His level of detail and research help immerse you in the world he is writing about. His main character is usually a minor variation of the same person; competent, versatile, educated, slightly outside society, but rather than being boring, this is one of the things that brings his readers back every year. One thing that I always enjoy is looking at the multiple meaning of the titles that are held in the story.

Surprisingly for such a large collection of writing, there are only 2 recurring heroes in Francis’ novels. Sid Halley has appeared in 4 of the novels, and Christmas “Kit” Fielding in 2. Sid is very popular, probably because he succeeds without considering himself disabled. Kit Fielding is almost never remembered, I have seen Sid referred to as the only recurring hero several times. Of course, Kit pretty much had his story finished in his two books, while Sid has kept growing and changing throughout all 4 of his.