CORDUROY MANSIONS(ISBN=9780307476500)

　　'Quirky and original ... told with warmth, wit and intelligence, and McCall Smith's cast of characters are beautifully observed. It's a page-turner with many happy endings. Perfect' DAILY EXPRESS ** 'Bags of warmth and wisdom and easy, accomplished writing that begs for a comfy chair' Kate Saunders, THE TIMES ** 'Richly illustrates McCall Smith's absolute mastery of the art of storytelling' THE LADY ** 'The author's gentle humour and playful teasing-out of moral dilemmas great and small are there in abundance' SCOTSMAN ** 'The seriousness is always sugar-dusted in McCall Smith's delight in the ridiculous and his perfectly paced humour' DAILY TELEGRAPH

　　Welcome to Corduroy Mansions in Pimlico: a temple of Arts and Crafts architecture, with comforting, weathered brickwork and frankly frivolous dormer windows, it is home to a delightfully eccentric cast of Londoners. In the top flat lives William, with a faithful ex-vegetarian dog named Freddie de la Hay and a freeloading son who he hopes will soon fly the nest. Four lively young women share the first-floor flat, including twinset-and-pearls Caroline from Cheltenham, Dee, vitamin addict and avid subscriber to Anti-oxidant News, and Jenny, a put-upon PA. And round the corner lives Oedipus Snark MP, possibly the world's only loathsome Lib Dem, who has succeeded in offending everyone he knows, and many others besides. But what dark revenge is being plotted by his mother, Berthea Snark, and by his girlfriend, Barbara Ragg...?

　　Following a distinguished career as a Professor of Medical Law, Alexander McCall Smith now writes full-time and is the author of over sixty books.