A conspiracy of friends

This is the third Corduroy Mansions novel by Alexander McCall Smith providing more stories about the inhabitants of Pimlico, especially those associated with the apartments of Corduroy Mansions. The series of stories throughout the book involve an investigation of friendship and how the characters respond to challenges in relationships. When William French visits friends in the country his dog, Freddie de la Hay, disappears and his loyalty to old friends is tested when his friend's wife confides her love for William. Barbara Ragg redefines her relationship with Hugo and continues her dispute with  Rupert Porter and his wife as they continue their quest to acquire Barbara's apartment. Caroline has a new flatmate. Oedipus Snark MP member of the Liberal Democrats receives a promotion while Terence Moongrove acquires a new car, both events providing additional worries for Berthea Snark.

These amusing, sometimes quirky, stories as well as entertaining the reader often portray attitudes and perceptions prevalent in society today.

The dog who came in from the cold

Number two in the Corduroy Mansions series continues stories of the lives of the inhabitants of this London block of flats and of their friends and family. The Pimlico terrier, Freddie de la Hay, has an adventure while working on a mission for MI6, Caroline agonises over her relationship with James, Barbara Ragg finds happiness with her Scottish fiance, Rupert Porter continues to desire Barbara's flat, the Green Man intervenes to save Terence Moongrove from financial ruin, Dee decides to make her fortune marketing a product to aid solving Sudoku puzzles while Rupert trails a yeti through Fortnum & Mason. The skillful interweaving of the various plots leaves the reader waiting for the next chapter featuring this eccentric collection of neighbours.

Corduroy Mansions

Alexander McCall Smith's latest offering is Corduory Mansions. Like the Scotland Street series the book introduces us to a series of characters living in or associated with a locality - this time a four storey building in Pimlico, a suburb of London. The reader enjoys the company of an eccentric group of characters including William, a wine merchant who is encouraging his adult son, Eddie, to leave home; Dee, Jenny, Jo and Caroline who share one of the flats; Oedipus Snark the politician and Jenny's employer; Barbara Ragg, a publisher and one time friend of Oedipus; Berthea Snark, a psychotherapist and mother of Oedipus who wants to write an unauthorised biography about her son; Terrance Moongrove, Berthea's brother, who lives in his own world in the country to name just a few. Not to forget Freddie de la Hay who comes to share William's flat. McCall Smith obviously enjoys these characters and uses them is comment on attitudes and misconceptions of our times. Like the Scotland Street series the book is based on a series of articles, this time appearing on the Telegraph.co.uk website - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/corduroymansionsbyalexandermcca/. The sequel to Corduroy Mansions is The dog who came in from the cold and (audio) chapters can be downloaded from this site. I certainly want to know more of the lives of these characters in Corduroy Mansions and look forward to reading the next installment.