Order of Book Series
0

Sid Halley Books in Order

There are 7 Sid Halley books, published between 1965 and 2025: 6 in the Sid Halley series and 1 related title. The first book is Odds Against (1965) and the newest main-line book is Hands Down (2022). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
7
Published
1965–2025
Confirmed
7 of 7 titles
Pages on record
1,579 in 5 of 7 books
Reading time
26–39 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 1,579 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 5 of 7 titles with a page count on record.

See all 7 books in order Printable Sid Halley checklist

Sid Halley is a private investigator in English horse racing mysteries created by Dick Francis. The character appears in 7 books from Odds Against (1965) to Dark Horse (2025). Whip Hand (1979), Come to Grief (1995) and Under Orders (2006) are also credited to Dick Francis. Refusal (2013), Hands Down (2022) and Dark Horse (2025) are credited to Felix Francis.

How many Sid Halley books are there?

Sid Halley has 7 books, released between 1965 and 2025. 6 of them belong to the Sid Halley series, and 1 related title sit outside it: other titles.

Sid Halley Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 7 Sid Halley 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.

  1. Cover of Odds Against by Dick Francis, book 1 of the Sid Halley series (1965)
  2. Cover of Whip Hand by Dick Francis, book 2 of the Sid Halley series (1979)
  3. Cover of Come to Grief by Dick Francis, book 3 of the Sid Halley series (1995)
  4. Cover of Under Orders by Dick Francis, book 4 of the Sid Halley series (2006)
  5. Cover of Refusal by Felix Francis, book 5 of the Sid Halley series (2013)
  6. Cover of Hands Down by Felix Francis, book 6 of the Sid Halley series (2022)
  1. 1
    Odds AgainstSid Halley #11965 · 288 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1965288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Whip HandSid Halley #21979 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1979304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Come to GriefSid Halley #31995 · 308 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1995308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Under OrdersSid Halley #42006 · 308 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2006308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    RefusalSid Halley #52013 · 371 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013371
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Hands DownSid Halley #62022 · confirmed 3/4
    2022–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Dark HorseDick Francis #72025 · confirmed 3/4
    2025–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Do you have to read Sid Halley books in order?

You should read the Sid Halley series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 1 related title (other titles) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Sid Halley book also stands alone.

Where to start with Sid Halley

Start with Odds Against (1965), the earliest published book in the Sid Halley series.

What is the newest Sid Halley book?

Hands Down (2022) is the newest book in the Sid Halley series. The newest related title is Dark Horse (2025).

Is there a new Sid Halley book coming?

No next Sid Halley book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Sid Halley at a glance

Paused
No new main-line Sid Halley title has appeared for 4 years. The last was Hands Down (2022).
Release pace
Sid Halley books have appeared about one every 10 years on average.
Length
1,579 pages across the 5 of 7 books with a recorded length, a median of 308 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Sid Halley books, 2 of 7, were published in the 2020s.
Attribution
Of the 7 titles, 4 are credited to Dick Francis and 3 to Felix Francis.

What the Sid Halley books are about

5 of the 7 Sid Halley 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 5 of 5. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.