LITMIR.BIZ

      First published in Great Britain, the USA and Canada in 2019

      by Black Thorn, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd,

      14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE

      blackthornbooks.com

      This digital edition first published in 2019 by Black Thorn, an imprint of Canongate Books

      First published in 2000 by Macmillan Publishers Ltd,

      Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

      Copyright © Simon Brett, 2000

      The moral right of the author has been asserted

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publications are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.

      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library

      eISBN 978 1 78689 765 7

       To Keith

       who knows this part of the world

       (and many others)