Dick Francis

Dead Cert is Dick Francis' first novel, published in 1962. Featured in the 2007 book 100 Must-Read Crime Novels. It was filmed by Tony Richardson in 1974. The title is a shortened form of "It's a dead certainty," in this case a play on words referring to the fact that the steeplechase horse Admiral should have won, …

Henry Grey takes a dirty, demanding job transporting racehorses by air. But when he discovers that he's actually transporting something altogether different, he has to call upon every ounce of resourcefulness he has to land with his life intact.