Dick Francis

A young man in Britain gives up horse racing to help his millionaire father contest a seat in a parliamentary election. A tale of father-son friendship against the background of political skullduggery. By the author of To the Hilt.

Ned Talbot has worked all his life as a book-maker so he knows not to expect any sympathy from the punters as they count their winnings at Royal Ascot. When a man steps forward from the crowd claiming to be his father, Ned is thrown into turmoil. He'd been told that both his parents died when he was a baby. Barely an hour later, his father stabbed by an unknown assailant. Before dying, he warns Ned to "be very careful." But of whom? Of what? Ned finds...

Giuseppe, sometimes called Peter, Europe's most elusive and cold-blooded kidnapper, who preys on the world of racing, and Andrew Douglas, the Continent's toughest, most successful anti-kidnapping operative, match wits.

After a number of horses are shot by someone using a weapon called a "humane killer," steeple chase jockey Kit Fielding vows to stop the killing.

Tor Kelsey, an undercover security operative for the British Jockey Club, is assigned to protect guests on "The Great Transcontinental Mystery Race Train," individuals whose safety is imperiled by real-life murder and mayhem.