Death of a favourite

Dick Francis' first detective story

In Dick Francis's first detective story from 1962, amateur rider Alan York searches for the killers of his close friend, the season's best jockey. Although the police concluded the tragic - and totally illogical - fall of the race favourite as an unfortunate accident, Alan is convinced otherwise.

However, he has no evidence to support his claim. So Alan sets out to find the culprit on his own, and although the delicate web of relationships among racehorse riders, trainers and horse owners keeps the culprit carefully hidden, the young man soon feels first-hand that his activity is a thorn in someone's side. Plus, it seems that the few indistinct and fleeting traces that will appear, leads to the lovely Kate, to the horse's new owner, that Alan drives. The girl who should be on his side. The girl he's been madly in love with since the first moment he met her.