Book excerpt: The debut novel from the New York Times–bestselling “master of crime fiction and equine thrills” features an investigation into the death of a jockey (The Atlantic Monthly). Dick Francis, Edgar Award–winning master of mystery and suspense, takes you into the thrilling world of horse racing. Steeplechaser Alan York knows well the dangers of the sport. But when his best friend and rival jockey Bill Davidson takes a fall in the middle of a race and doesn’t get up again, Alan discovers it was no accident. Someone rigged a tripwire to take down the running horse. The more Alan investigates, the more he suspects that there is more to the plot than just murderous horseplay. But even as he approaches the finish line to this mysterious race, those responsible for his friend’s death are already planning for Alan to have a mysterious accident of his own . . . “Dick Francis is a wonder.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “An imaginative craftsman of high order.” —The Sunday Times “Few things are more convincing than Dick Francis at a full gallop.” —Chicago Tribune “Few match Francis for dangerous flights of fancy and pure inventive menace.” —Boston Herald “[The] master of crime fiction and equine thrills.” —Newsday “[Francis] has the uncanny ability to turn out simply plotted yet charmingly addictive mysteries.” —The Wall Street Journal “Francis is a genius.” —Los Angeles Times “A rare and magical talent . . . who never writes the same story twice.” —The San Diego Union-Tribune