Favorite Male Mystery Author: Dick Francis

Lori at Lori's Reading Corner has started a new meme. It is called the Saturday Spotlight. Here is what it is about in Lori's own words:

Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, where each week we will have a chance to showcase something new. It will be the place to gather, talk and shine the “spotlight” on all things book related. Not to mention a place to discover new to us authors, characters, series and places.

Each week I will pick a new theme for us to share our favorite of, and every once in a while I’ll make it a “readers choice” week where you can spotlight whatever you want.

Some of the different things we’ll be spotlighting are our favorite book, author, female/male character, location, murder weapon, series, other book blogs, giveaway sites, places to get our books and just about anything else book related.

This week my spotlight is shining on my ......

FAVORITE MALE MYSTERY AUTHOR

This didn't require any thought for me at all. My favorite male mystery author is Dick Francis. You can read all about him in this article from wikipedia. Some highlights are that he was a champion jockey and rode for the Queen Mother Elizabeth. He left racing after a serious fall and then turned to writing books.

In 1962 he published his first thriller Dead Cert, set in the world of racing. Subsequently he regularly produced a novel a year for the next 38 years, missing only 1998 (during which he published a short-story collection). Although all his books were set against a background of horse racing, his heroes held a variety of jobs from artist (In the Frame and To the Hilt) to private investigator (Odds Against).

Many of his books were nominated for the Edgar Award and he won it three times - Forfeit (1970), Whip Hand (1981), and Come to Grief (1996). He also won many other awards in the mystery genre. His wife Mary was his unsung collaborator. After her death in 2006, he wrote books with his son Felix. Francis died on February 10, 2010.

I used to look forward to his annual book and read all the rest of them again in anticipation. (Oh, for the days when I had time to reread multiple books.) I have read many of his books multiple times. My favorites are Hot Money, Straight, Reflex, and Proof. His books all follow a theme - a physically and mentally tough man finds himself in a mystery and faces danger while trying to solve it.

Visit Lori's Reading Corner to find out about some other favorite mystery authors and to find some other bloggers who love mysteries too.