Murder International: Smokescreen / Knockdown / Slayride

by Dick Francis

3 stories in one book - Smokescreen,Knockdown and Slayride.Published in 1972,1974, 1973 consecutively.

Genres: Mystery, British Literature

534 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Dick Francis, CBE, FRSL (born Richard Stanley Francis) was a popular British horse racing crime writer and retired jockey.

Dick Francis worked on his books with his wife, Mary, before her death. Dick considered his wife to be his co-writer - as he is quoted in the book, "The Dick Francis Companion", released in 2003:
"Mary and I worked as a team. ... I have often said that I would have been happy to have both our names on the cover. Mary's family always called me Richard due to having another Dick in the family. I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together."

Praise for Dick Francis: 'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror '

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 '

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.

During his lifetime Dick Francis received many awards, amongst them the prestigious Crime Writers' Association's Cartier Diamond Dagger for his outstanding contribution to the genre, and three 'best novel' Edgar Allan Poe awards from The Mystery Writers of America. In 1996 he was named by them as Grand Master for a lifetime's achievement. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and was awarded a CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List of 2000. Dick Francis died in February 2010, at the age of eighty-nine, but he remains one of the greatest thriller writers of all time.

Series:
* Sid Halley Mystery
* Kit Fielding Mystery

Reviews

[JoAnna Brand · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am finding all of his tales to be a very fun ride!

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mega-dose of 1970s Dick Francis -- good for what ails you. Three complete horse-flavored mystery novels seems like a huge mountain of words to conquer, but this trio is an easy climb. The three novels go together surprisingly well, considering they are all stand-alone novels. My crippled Mom greatly enjoyed Murder International and anything that gets her mind of her several chronic medical conditions gets an extra star in my book.



I do wish these three were "horse-ier" but I do realize that Francis was trying to write three good mystery and thriller stories rather than writing horse stories for adults. If you are looking for horse stories, you will be disappointed. But if you are looking for mysteries and (slightly silly but entertaining) thrillers, then sit back and enjoy the ride.

[Stephen Broeker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murder International
Smokescreen. Copyright 1972.
Knockdown. Copyright 1974.
Slayride. Copyright 1973.
By Dick Francis.
Published by Nelson Doubleday, Inc., Garden City, New York.
Hardcover, 534 pages.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of three of Francis' novels: Smokescreen,, Knockdown, Slayride. All involve the horse racing world an murder. All three are enjoyable reads.

[Lynda Muller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to combine Dick Francis's novels: plotlines that take the hero from England to a foreign country.