Philip Progmire is a quiet, unassuming fellow, happy working as an accountant for a television company and happy with his wife Beth. But his old school chum, Dick Dunster, has a way of breaking into Philip’s life over and over again, and whenever Dunster appears, trouble - very BIG trouble - is never far behind…. John Mortimer is best known for his Rumpole series, of course, but he also wrote a fair number of stand-alone books too, including this one. It features his trademark humour and, surprisingly, a great deal of moral ambiguity and questions about the meaning of honesty in the real world. I wouldn’t consider this to be peak Mortimer, but it’s definitely worth a read; recommended. ( )

Right on the heels of Headlong, this was an interesting read. A somewhat dull but essentially good Phillip Progmire, accountant and would be actor and his childhood 'friend', Richard Dunster, a journalist and 'just being honest' guy are friends and antagonists. Dunster is really thoroughly unlikeable but is given a fine veneer of rougish charm. He fights and battles everyone for no good reason except that he wants to be truthful. However, it is the kind of truth that only serves to hurt people. He gloms on to Progmire as a schoolboy but the story is mainly his attempt to destroy the reputation of the chair of a TV company, who is Philip's boss. There is the detective element of finding the truth but more about the relationship of Progmire and Dunster. I think, by the end, Progmire has managed to get away from Dunster's destruction and Dunster, perhaps, has learned that he can't act at will but the price paid by all is very high. Extremely well done by the author of the much different Rumpole stories.