Dick Francis Books in Order
Dick Francis has written 44 books, published between 1957 and 2006. The first book is The Sport of Queens: The Autobiography of Dick Francis (1957) and the newest is Under Orders (2006). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 44
- Published
- 1957–2006
- Confirmed
- 44 of 44 titles
- Pages on record
- 11,374 in 40 of 44 books
- Reading time
- 190–284 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 11,374 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 40 of 44 titles with a page count on record.
Dick Francis (Richard Stanley Francis, 1920 to 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey who turned to crime fiction set in English horse racing. After RAF service in wartime, Francis rode as a jump jockey, became champion jockey of the British National Hunt and rode for Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The catalogue records 44 books, from the autobiography The Sport of Queens (1957) and the novel Dead Cert (1962) to Under Orders (2006). Sid Halley and Kit Fielding are recurring figures.
How many Dick Francis books are there?
Dick Francis has 44 books, released between 1957 and 2006. They include 2 separate series.
Dick Francis Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 44 Dick Francis books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 1The Sport of Queens: The Autobiography of Dick FrancisDick Francis Non-Fiction #11957 · confirmed 3/41957–3/4
- 219623103/4
- 319643133/4
- 419652883/4
- 519653043/4
- 619662883/4
- 719672883/4
- 819682563/4
- 919692243/4
- 1019692723/4
- 1119702913/4
- 1219712563/4
- 1319722133/4
- 1419732883/4
- 1519742923/4
- 1619752723/4
- 1719763043/4
- 1819772723/4
- 1919782723/4
- 2019793043/4
- 2119802953/4
- 2219813073/4
- 2319823063/4
- 2419833703/4
- 2519843683/4
- 2619853203/4
- 2719863183/4
- 28A Jockey's Life: The Biography of Lester Piggot / LesterDick Francis Non-Fiction #31986 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/419863043/4
- 291987–3/4
- 3019883243/4
- 311989–3/4
- 3219903043/4
- 3319913213/4
- 3419923673/4
- 35199313/4
- 361994–3/4
- 371995573/4
- 3819953083/4
- 3919963523/4
- 4019973203/4
- 4119982893/4
- 4219992723/4
- 4320002563/4
- 4420063083/4
Dick Francis series and characters in order
The character linked below has its own reading-order page.
- Sid Halley books in order 7 books
Dick Francis books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. A group whose heading is a link has its own reading-order page; the other groups have no page of their own on this site.
Dick Francis Standalone Novels
33 books33 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Sid Halley books in order
4 books by Dick Francis- 1. Odds Against
- 2. Whip Hand
- 3. Come to Grief
- 4. Under Orders
Dick Francis Non-Fiction
3 books3 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Kit Fielding in order
2 booksDick Francis Short Story
2 books2 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
Do you have to read Dick Francis books in order?
You only need to read Dick Francis books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Dick Francis
Start with Odds Against (1965), the first Sid Halley book. The earliest catalogued title overall is The Sport of Queens: The Autobiography of Dick Francis (1957).
What is the newest Dick Francis book?
Under Orders (2006) is the newest Dick Francis book released so far.
Is there a new Dick Francis book coming?
No next Dick Francis book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Dick Francis at a glance
- Died
- Dick Francis died in 2010, according to Wikidata.
- Last book
- The newest book credited to Dick Francis on record dates from 2006.
- Release pace
- Dick Francis books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 11,374 pages across the 40 of 44 books with a recorded length, a median of 300 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Dick Francis books, 11 of 44, were published in the 1990s.
What the Dick Francis books are about
43 of the 44 Dick Francis books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: horse racing is tagged on 40 of 43. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Horse racing 40 of 43 books
- Mystery & detective 24 of 43 books
- England 18 of 43 books
- Horse racing in fiction 11 of 43 books
- Jockeys 11 of 43 books
- Private investigators 6 of 43 books
- Sid Halley (Fictitious character) 4 of 43 books
- Fiction in English 3 of 43 books