Dick Francis

Dead Cert is Dick Francis' first novel, published in 1962. Featured in the 2007 book 100 Must-Read Crime Novels. It was filmed by Tony Richardson in 1974. The title is a shortened form of "It's a dead certainty," in this case a play on words referring to the fact that the steeplechase horse Admiral should have won, …

A closed-door enquiry has found a jockey guilty of the lowest possible crime--throwing a race for money. His reputation scarred, he's begun his own investigation--but asking the wrong questions just might get him killed.