My second second contribution to the Royal Literary Fund podcast series "Vox" came under the heading of "life-changing literature", for which I decided to speak about Michel de Montaigne. This sixteenth century French essayist possessed one of the mo [...]

Some months ago I contributed two short essays to the writers' podcast "Vox", to be put out on the website of the Royal Literary Fund. A number of subjects were suggested  to us and the first that I chose was "A Letter to my Younger Self", in which I [...]

  Some of the pet dogs in our street in North London have become disturbed by the rising number of urban foxes lurking in the bushes, mating noisily and raiding the bins in our back and front gardens. They make the dogs bark – and bark and bark – wh [...]

JONATHAN SWIFT’s advice in his essay ‘Letter to a Young Gentleman Lately Entered into Holy Orders’ (1721) was that ‘proper words in proper places, make the true definition of a style’. Behind this succinct formula lies a more complicated truth. To be [...]

By today’s standards, the Georgian age, in which my Cragg and Fidelis mysteries are set, was a particularly callous one. Unequal rights for women, the slave trade and cruel capital punishment were all widely accepted, though not by all. My latest nov [...]

During August I set myself the task of visiting a different art exhibition every day and blogging about it. Mission accomplished! This was the last day. Monday 31 August Exhibition: 'Poor man's picture gallery': Victorian Art and Stereoscopic Phot [...]

For the silly season I've given myself the task of visiting a different art exhibition on every day of August and writing a blog about it. Sunday 30 August Exhibition: The Campbell Sisters Dancing the Waltz Place: The Victoria and Albert Museum   [...]

For the silly season I've set myself the challenge of visiting a different art exhibition on every day of August and writing a blog about it. Saturday 29 August Exhibition: Wildlife Photographer of the Year Place: Natural History Museum Photograph [...]

Thursday 29 August Exhibition: Out of the Ordinary Place: Christie’s, Old Brompton Road The vast world of collectibles is mostly hidden from sight but, at any given time, there’s always proportion that’s out there, as it shuttles from one collectio [...]

For the Silly Season I've set myself the challenge of visiting a different art exhibition on every day of the month and blogging about it. Thursday 27 August Exhibition: Agnes Martin Place: Tate Modern The art of mental instability is often associ [...]