Come To Grief (Penguin Books)

Come to Grief is a classic novel from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time. Sid Halley, ex-champion jockey turned investigator, is facing his toughest test. A number of horses have been brutally mutilated, horrifying their owners and the general public.

Even Sid's friend, broadcaster Ellis Quint, has been moved to make a shocking programme about it. But when Sid is asked to look into the case, the evidence he uncovers points in a startling direction and he finds that his head must overrule his heart.

As friends and associates are angered aby his discoveries, so Sid is drawn into a terrible web of conspiracy and intrigue. Escape will require all his legendary wits and cunning...Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Come to Grief is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.

Other novels include the huge bestsellers Dead Heat, Under Orders and Silks. The Dick Francis legacy continues through his son Felix Francis: Refusal is his latest novel, following Bloodline and Gamble.

Praise for the Dick Francis novels: "The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care...the entire story is a pleasure to relish".(Scotsman). "Dick Francis' fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end".

(Sunday Telegraph). "Still the master". (Racing Post). "The master of suspense and intrigue". (Country Life). Dick Francis was one of the most successful post-war National Hunt jockeys.

The winner of over 350 races, he was champion jockey in 1953/1954 and rode for HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, most famously on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National. On his retirement from the saddle, he published his autobiography, The Sport of Queens, before going on to write forty-three bestselling novels, a volume of short stories (Field of 13), and the biography of Lester Piggott.

Dick Francis died in February, 2010, at the age of 89, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.