Sid Halley

4 primary works

Odds Against

by Dick Francis

Published October 1965

Ex-champion steeplechase jockey Sid Haley is now a sleuth. As the story opens he has just been shot in the stomach during the course of his duties as a private investigator, working - or rather, idling - in a firm which keeps him employed, thanks tothe old boy network. Convalescing with indecent and painful haste, Sid finds the pace growing steadily hotter as he investigates the cunningly contrived decline of a racecourse, and comes to close and spine-chilling grips with the crooks responsible.

Whip Hand

by Dick Francis

Published 8 October 1979

There are two worlds in racing. Winning and losing. Private detective Sid Halley has gone from one to the other - fast. First his career as a jockey ended when he lost his hand in a fall. Then his wife said a cold good-bye. Now he's on the trail of thugs who crush losers. With vicious pleasure.

These are people who aim to win - at any price. There's a syndicate of owners with a sideline in violent kidnapping. And Trevor Deansgate, a bookmaker whose hatred of favourites goes one deathly step too far...

For the sake of his health, Halley had better return to winning ways. Because to lose is to die...

Come to Grief

by Dick Francis

Published 31 December 1983

The bestselling author of Decider is back with another suspenseful ride The hero of Whip Hand returns Although more than a decade has passed since the publication of Whip Hand, little time has elapsed in Sid Halley's life. Still in his mid-thirties, he remains troubled, courageous, unwilling to admit defeat to disabling injury or to corruption. Now, though, Sid faces nineties' dilemmas, dangers, and deeply demanding decisions. I had this friend that everyone loved, and I put him on trial...I grieved for the loss of a friendship, and for the man who looked the same but was different, alien...despicable. I could more easily have grieved for him dead. Having exposed an adored racing figure as a monster, Sid must testify at the man's trial. But the morning of his appearance, a tragic suicide shatters the proceedings and jars Halley's conscience. Plagued by regret and the suspicion that there's more to the death than has yet come to light, he is catapulted into days of hard, rational detection, heart-searching torments, and the gravest of perils. Business as usual for Sid...

Under Orders

by Dick Francis

Published 27 July 2006

"Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in one afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than an eyebrow."

It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well - but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker - the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend.

Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place. His brief: to make discrete enquiries into alleged race fixing. Are results being rigged? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they realise ...

Halley's quest for answers draws him ever deeper into the darker side of the race game, in a life-or-death power-play that will push him to his very limits - both professionally and personally.