Richard Stanley Francis was a British crime writer, and former steeplechase jockey, whose novels centre on horse racing in England. Francis is the only three-time recipient of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for Best Novel, winning for Forfeit in 1970, Whip Hand in 1981, and Come To Grief in 1996. Britain's Crime Writers Association awarded him its Gold Dagger Award for fiction in 1979 and the Cartier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989. He was granted another Lifetime Achievement Award. Tufts University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1991. Francis rarely re-used his lead characters. Only two heroes were used more than once; injured ex-jockey turned one-armed private investigator Sid Halley and Kit Fielding. Sid Halley, the main character in Odds Against and Whip Hand is back in the third and final instalment of Dick Francis' Sid Halley series. About a year has passed since Whip Hand. Sid Halley is on his own again because Chico has gotten married. Now Sid is faced with a perplexing mystery, several two-year-old colts and a young girl's pony have been found with a front foot severed at the ankle while they were still alive. These crimes have happened on moonlit nights right before major races. A familiar blue Land Rover shows up at one of the crime scenes which leads Sid to believe the perpetrator is Ellis Quint, a well-known television sport's show host. Enjoy free online English audiobook “Come to Grief”, a novel by Dick Francis.
