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DICK FRANCIS COMPANION, THE
by Jean Swanson and Dean James
Berkley Prime Crime, July 2003
210 pages
$14.00
ISBN: 0425181871


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

"Companion" books are ordinarily written about highly successful authors with dozens of published books who are beloved by a multitude of fans. So a companion book on Dick Francis was the most natural thing in the world. This one contains biographical information, an exclusive interview with Dick Francis, a summary of his 38 novels and one short story collection, a cast of the main characters in his books, a Dick Francis gazetteer, Web links for racing sites, a list of horses featured in his books, some first lines and other quotes, and a bibliography. Everything you wanted to know about Dick Francis but didn't know where to look.

I had recent occasion to check something from a Dick Francis novel, but I couldn't find out which one. Specifically I was thinking a week or so ago about one of his stories that began with a man handcuffed to the steering wheel of a car in the desert, which turned out to be the filming of a movie scene. I couldn't find which title in any of the various mystery novel reference books I have, but surely it should be easy with a Dick Francis Companion. It was. I quickly read the first line in each of the summarized novels, and there, under the title SMOKESCREEN, was "In the opening scene of this novel, actor Edward Lincoln is chained to the steering wheel of a car stuck in the desert. He's acting, of course -- filming a scene for a movie called 'Man in a Car.'"

The summaries are good, each one a long paragraph, and the 38 novels take up 39 pages. This is much more helpful than some other similar references that give, in some cases, four or more much shorter summaries in one page -- I have not found such short summaries too useful.

The interview with Dick Francis is enlightening and most interesting. He doesn't duck the question that has been coming up frequently since his wife, Mary, died in 2000, over who wrote his novels. He says, "Mary and I worked as a team .... I am Richard, Mary was Mary, and Dick Francis was the two of us together." He confirms that writing is hard work, and he states that he has had a continuous need to write 500 words daily without missing a single day. He also stresses what I firmly believe in: "Know your subject."

Under "Characters," I vaguely recalled that Francis used my surname in one of his books. Sure enough, the Companion lists nine members of a Stratton family in the book, DECIDER. In the introduction to the "Gazetteer," the authors point out that while Francis has used settings from all over the world, he has made it a point to travel extensively to make his settings authentic, and in one case he and his wife took Greyhound buses all over the United States to do the research for the book, BLOOD SPORT.

The quotes are fascinating to read, or re-read. Francis is a believer in "telling a story strong and quick." We see that in such lines as: "I was never particularly keen on my job before the day I got shot and nearly lost it, along with my life." Or, "I looked at my friend and saw a man who had robbed me." Who could resist turning the pages after openings such as these? Of course, it takes more than a snappy opening to write a novel, but the beauty of a Dick Francis novel is that he almost invariably sustains the action and the interest.

All in all, this companion is a well-produced, well-researched, excellent book, and after looking it over carefully, I was glad I had bought it. If only a fraction of the many Dick Francis fans buy it, this book should be a best seller.

Reviewed by Eugene Aubrey Stratton, October 2003

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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