A Conspiracy of Friends

There's never a dull moment for the residents of Corduroy Mansions: Berthea Snark is still at work on her scathing biography of the only loathsome Liberal Democrat member of Parliament -- her own son, Oedipus; literary agents Rupert Porter and Barbara Ragg are still battling each other for first crack at the manuscript of Autobiography of a Yeti; fine-arts graduate Caroline Jarvis is busy blurring the line between friendship and romance; and William French is still worrying that his son, Eddie, may never leave home, even though Eddie's got a new wealthy girlfriend. But uppermost on everyone's mind is Freddie de la Hay -- William's faithful terrier, and without a doubt the only dog clever enough to have been recruited by MI6, who has disappeared while on a mystery tour around the Suffolk countryside.It's back to the slightly dilapidated but well-lived-in mansion block in London's hip Pimlico neighborhood in Alexander McCall Smith's warm, wise Corduroy Mansions series.