For almost 40 years Dick Francis has published a new horse-racing thriller every autumn, delighting his legions of loyal fans and reaping lavish praise from his many admirers across the globe. But his novels, published in 35 languages and selling over 60 million copies, have been the subject of much speculation over the years, with publishing insiders and avid readers often questioning whether Francis actually penned his novels at all, or whether his erudite and talented wife, Mary, has helped a little bit more than she would ever admit. When the couple first met--she a 21-year-old schoolteacher with an Arts Degree, he obsessed by the racing world and with little interest in anything else--it seemed they had nothing in common. But it was love at first sight and their romance blossomed into a enviable, mutually beneficial and deeply loving relationship that in turn spawned a spectacularly successful literary partnership.

In Dick Francis: A Racing Life, Graham Lord examines every inch of Francis's life, looking at a childhood that shaped the man with a passion for horses, who left school at 15 with no qualifications but grew up to be a legendary champion jump-jockey and then later a best-selling author. Indeed, the tales of derring-do on horseback and the trials and tribulations of life behind the scenes of the racing fraternity will intrigue and delight his fans and will probably have the the racing glitterati clamouring for copies of this excellent, fast-paced Grand National of biographies.

But the author is at his best when he begins to look closely at the relationship between Dick and Mary: loving, growing, nurturing and working with each other to form an enviable alliance that has allowed them to gracefully achieve far more than they either may ever have done alone.

This is not just the story of Dick Francis. This is also the story of Mary and between the pages of this diligent and illuminating biography she shines as the strength behind the throne of a man who was destined to become a hero, either on horseback or as an A-list author. And in answer to the question of who really writes the books: does it really matter?--Susan Harrison