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Tom Chaney: November 4, 2006: Under orders Of Writers and their books: Under Orders, by Dick Francis A Review by Tom Chaney, bookstore@scrtc.com Dick Francis, the British jockey turned mystery writer, is 86 years old come October 31 of this year. His 39th novel with a racing background is just out in time for the celebration -- Under Orders, published by Putnam just last month. Fifty years ago, Francis took one of the most famous falls in racing. He was jockey for the Queen Mother Elizabeth astride her horse Devon Loch. Horse and rider had cleared the last jump and were ten lengths ahead of the second horse ESB when "Devon Loch pricked up his ears and collapsed. . . . I walked away in disgust. The horse got up and trotted away too." When Francis was asked why the horse fell, he cited several theories. There was talk of a Russian plot since Georgy Malenkov and Andrei Gromyko were guests that day. My favorite of the several proffered is that "perhaps he was destabilised by breaking wind violently after his girth was made too tight." In 1957 Francis retired. He had gained some fame after the Devon Loch tumble, and had begun writing his autobiography, The Sport of Kings. His wife Mary encouraged him, and "The pair wrote up the 37-year-old's exciting life, one filled with derring-do in the skies (he was a wartime pilot, flying spitfires and bombers for the RAF) and doughty deeds on the turf (by his retirement he had won 350 races)." But, before he tackled the fiction which would be his mtier, he tried his hand as a racing correspondent for the Sunday Express. Not content with a journalist's rather tame life, he began his career as a writer of mystery fiction. Again, Mary encouraged him. In 1962 Dead Cert, the first of a long string of race-related novels, appeared. That novel begins in the middle of a race. "The mingled smells of hot horse and cold river mist filled my nostrils. I could hear only the swish and thud of galloping hooves and the occasional sharp click of horseshoes striking against each other." A rider is murdered and wealthy jockey Alan York hunts down the killer. This fast-paced tale set the pattern for the next 38 years as he turned out a novel a year except for the one book of short stories in 1998. Francis and Mary did the research together. "We collaborated on everything to do with the books. I wanted her name to go on the books, but she wouldn't have that." When Mary died in 2000, Francis announced that he would write no more books. But now comes Under Orders. Francis told Stuart Jeffries of the Guardian, "I did say I wouldn't write another book after Mary died, but she's been dead for five-and-a-half years now. I have got over the fact of missing her." His son Felix collaborated with him. "I wanted to put his name on the book, but he thought it would be disloyal to his mother," Francis said. For Under Orders injured jockey-turned-detective Sid Halley is back. There has been murder on the track; horses who should win are losing; and skullduggery is rampant both at the race course and in the new world of computer wagering. I can, perhaps, forgive the six-year break in the novels which have tumbled from Francis' pen. Now he is back and it is a relief. I am among those who find a good author, reads all he has written and pines for more. In the case of Dick Francis I have followed the example of an elderly relative of mine. For years she devoured his books one after another. When I visited her, I generally picked up one of her well-thumbed copies. She had the habit of dating each reading on the last page. I chose one to read and found she had re-read it eighteen times. May Under Orders,be just the start of a new string of Francis mysteries. We can always build more stalls in the stable. Tom Chaney can be found telling stories, smoking pipe-weed, and occasionally selling books at THE BOOKSTORE, Box 73, 111 Water Street, Horse Cave, KY 42749. Phone 270-786-3084. Email: Tom Chaney bookstore@scrtc.com. Click here for The Bookstore. This story was posted on 2006-11-04 04:12:32
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