HIS dad was first past the post with best-selling thrillers based in the world of horse racing. National Hunt jockey Dick Francis wrote books that sold in the millions worldwide.

Titles such as Dead Cert, High Stakes and Longshot could be found on the bookshelves of most homes and always appeared high up in library lists of most loaned titles.

These days, son Felix Francis carries on the literary legacy, publishing page-turners featuring a stable of resourceful heroes and treacherous villains that have become racing certainties.

Felix co-wrote thrillers with Dick in his father’s later years and continued to publish them under his own name after his dad’s death in 2010, shifting nearly a million copies.

Award-winning author Felix Francis

This Autumn, he will host a special one-off tour of Newmarket, the home of horse racing, to mark the launch of his new high-stakes thriller No Reserve, which is set in the Suffolk town.

On October 5, the award-winning writer will lead the way to several places that appear in his latest novel, which delves behind the scenes of the fascinating thoroughbred bloodstock auctions.

Tattersalls Sales Ring

Among stops along the route will be The Gallops and the world-famous Tattersalls Sales Ring, where the action begins.

On the eve of the tour, October 4, Felix will talk about this new thriller, and sign copies, at Newmarket’s National Horse Racing Museum, with tickets set at £15 a head, including a glass of wine.

National Horse Racing Museum

The No Reserve Guided Tour with Felix Francis starts at 10am on October 5, and tickets are priced £90 per person, including brunch and a signed complimentary copy of the book.

You can find full details of the talk here, and details of the tour can be seen here. For attractions in the town and surrounding area had to Discover Newmarket.

No Reserve is published by Bonnier Books in the UK on September 28.