Miles Pussett is a former steeplechase jockey. Now he gets his adrenalin rush from riding down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, head first, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour.
Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. It is against his better judgement. Seven years before, Miles left horseracing behind and swore he would never return.
When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future life, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant to stop – and they’ll go to any lengths to do it . . .
I have always been such a fan of Dick Francis novels and this has continued throughout Felix Francis’s efforts to extend his father’s legacy. The son’s efforts have perhaps been a little more hit and miss than his father’s but they have held up well enough for them to make it on to my ‘must buy’ list each year.
This one is a little different as the main focus of the first part of the book is not horse racing but extreme sledding on the Cresta Run, which I love because one of my favourite things about novels is to discover experiences secondhand that I am never likely to have in person. I knew absolutely nothing about the Cresta Run beyond its name before I read this book so the descriptions of it brought brilliantly to life here were fascinating and made me want to go and find out more. You need to go and watch some videos of people doing this thing, it looks insane and dangerous and I can’t tell you I’m tempted to try it!
What I would be more tempted by would be to attend the White Turf festival where the horses race on snow and they even have some where, instead of riding on the back of horses, they race by skiing behind them. Again, this is something I never knew was a thing until I read this book but it sounds really interesting.
There is the standard horse racing fare included in this book too by way of flashbacks to the main character’s youth as an apprentice jockey and how it all went so wrong. This is not a device I recall being used in any previous Francis novel and I think it worked quite well to give a different perspective on things. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this addition to the series.
Just a word on the narration. I have all of the Dick Francis novels in audio format and the vast majority are narrated by Martin Jarvis or Tony Britton, both of whom are excellent narrators. there have been one or two recent ones narrated by other people which I haven’t enjoyed as much so I was glad to see Martin back for this one. However, this narration got off to a shaky start and it sounded like his voice was faltering, at least at the beginning. Sadly, Martin died last year so I will treasure the audiobooks I have that featuring his distinctive voice.
Iced is out now in all formats and you can buy a copy here.
About the Author
FELIX FRANCIS is Dick Francis’s younger son. Born in 1953, Felix studied Physics and Electronics at London University and then embarked upon a 17-year career teaching Advanced Level physics at three schools, the last seven as head of the science department at Bloxham School in Oxfordshire. After leaving teaching, Felix then became a businessman, spending 13 years as deputy chairman of World Challenge Expeditions Ltd, before starting his third career as an author.
As a child, Felix remembers that conversations around the Francis breakfast table were somewhat unconventional. “The production of a Dick Francis novel has always been a mixture of inspiration, perspiration and teamwork. The first one was published when I was nine, and I grew up in a house where talk would be about the damage a bullet might do to a man’s guts rather than the more mundane topics of everyday life”.
Over the next 40 years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and the writing of many of his novels. They shared a love of racing and often worked together on plot and character details at Dick’s home in the Cayman Islands. This partnership allowed Dick to draw upon Felix’s knowledge and experience as a physics teacher and marksman in Twice Shy, and as an outdoorsman in Longshot.
With the publication of Under Orders in 2006, Felix took over the writing of the ‘Dick Francis’ novels from his father. This was followed by Dead Heat in 2007, Silks in 2008, and Even Money in 2009. Crossfire was the book Felix was working on when Dick died in February 2010, marking the end of one chapter and the beginning of another in the Dick Francis brand. Since then there have been another twelve ‘Dick Francis’ novels, with Felix’s latest, No Reserve, published in September 2023.
Connect with Felix:
Website: Felix Francis
Facebook: Felix Francis
Twitter: @felix_francis
