The debut novel from the New York Times–bestselling “master of crime fiction and equine thrills” features an investigation into the death of a jockey (The Atlantic Monthly). Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing. Steeplechaser Alan York knows well the dangers of the sport. But when his best friend and rival jockey Bill Davidson takes a fall in the middle of a race and doesn’t get up again, Alan discovers it was no accident. Someone rigged a tripwire to take down the running horse. The more Alan investigates, the more he suspects that there is more to the plot than just murderous horseplay. But even as he approaches the finish line to this mysterious race, those responsible for his friend’s death are already planning for Alan to have a mysterious accident of his own . . . “Dick Francis is a wonder.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “An imaginative craftsman of high order.” —The Sunday Times “Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at a full gallop.” —Chicago Tribune “Few match Francis for dangerous flights of fancy and pure inventive menace.” —Boston Herald “[The] master of crime fiction and equine thrills.” —Newsday “[Francis] has the uncanny ability to turn out simply plotted yet charmingly addictive mysteries.” —The Wall Street Journal “Francis is a genius.” —Los Angeles Times “A rare and magical talent . . . who never writes the same story twice.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune

Dead Cert is a classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time. 'Admiral met the fence perfectly. He rose to it as if flight were not only for birds. And he fell.' Alan York's friend, jockey Bill Davidson, was killed in Admiral's fall. After the race, York visits the fence and discovers a coil of wire lying beside the fence post and signs of where the wire had been attached. The fall was no accident - but murder. Unable to convince the police of this, York is forced to turn amateur sleuth and is soon on the trail of a ruthless gang of race-fixers operating out of Brighton. Now Alan's caught in a new race: find the gang's leaders before the gang catches up with him . . . Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Dead Cert 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's 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.

Originally published in 1962, Dead Cert was the first of the bestselling thrillers which have made Dick Francis one of the most popular and successful writers in the world. Dead Cert is about Alan York, an amateur jockey, who finds himself tangling dangerously with a ruthless gang of crooks. A pretty girl, an intelligent child, a fuel on a horseback and a manhunt across the Sussex countryside are some of the ingredients in this gripping thriller about the shady side of the racing world. The background is superbly authentic and the pace would not shame a two-mile hurdle race.

Now over twenty years old, the original edition ofNightmare Movies has retained its place as a true classic of cult filmcriticism. In this new edition, Kim Newman brings his seminal work completelyup to date, both reassessing his earlier evaluations and adding a second partthat analyses the last two decades of horror films with all the wit,intelligence and insight for which he is known. Since the publication of thefirst edition, horror has been on a gradual upswing and has gained a new andstronger hold over the film industry. Newman negotiates his way through a vastback catalogue of horror and charts the on-screen progress of our collectivefears and bogeymen, from the low-budget slasher movies of the 1960s, through tothe slick releases of the 2000s. Nightmare Movies is an invaluable companion that not onlyprovides a newly updated history of the darker side of film but also acts as atruly entertaining guide with which to explore the less well-trodden paths ofhorror and rediscover the classics with a newly instructed eye.

Watching the screen version of a classic mystery novel can be disappointing. By necessity or artistic license (or possibly just ego) changes are often made by the filmmakers--many of them ineffective or even detrimental. This book focuses on the screen adaptations of 65 famous mysteries and examines how the filmmakers either succeeded or failed in the telling of the story. Interviews with several famous mystery writers are included, with their comments on how filmmakers treated their work.