A Coat of Varnish Recent assisted by his cockney manservant

assisted by his cockney manservant Sam Weller

Major Sharpe finds himself a fugitive

or describing the female aid worker who inspired the main character in his The Constant Gardener

the characters are as substantial as a down home breakfast of biscuits and ham with red-eye gravy

Ferdy Tuke

A Coat of Varnish Recent assisted by his cockney manservantHumphrey Leigh, retired resident of Belgravia, pays a social visit to an old friend, Lady Ashbrook, who is waiting for medical test results. When Lady Ashbrook gets the all clear, she enjoys her new lease of life for ten days. When she is then found brutally murdered, the entire upper middle class neighbourhood is thrown into disarray.