‘Nigel West’ is the pen name of Rupert Allason, who was a Conservative MP between 1987 and 1997, and under his pseudonym wrote several books about the security services. He also wrote two novels: this one, and a companion volume called, perhaps predictably, ‘Murder in the Lords’.

As someone whose work takes me into parliament (both Houses) two or three times a week I was intrigued to read this. While the plot is decidedly unrealistic, and unnecessarily over-complicated, the insights into parliamentary procedures are very well drawn and accurate. I was very impressed to see a fleeting reference to the work of my own department, although sadly it was clear that the specific subject (‘export credit guarantees’) was chosen by the protagonist as one likely to make the eyes of the person he was addressing glaze over in incomprehension. All too often those words have that effect on me, too.

The plot is rather ridiculous, and clearly just a vehicle for a lurid and scurrilous novel set in parliament, and it was no less enjoyable for that! Set during the 1990s (during the final parliament of John Major’s government), it follows the investigation into the death of little-known Welsh Labour MP, Alun Rees. Bizarrely, the principal investigator is Conservative MP Philip North, who had been Rees’s ‘pair’. While the investigation is conducted by the metropolitan police, as Rees died within the precincts of parliament, it is actually the responsibility of the Speaker of the House. He commissions North to accompany the police,, and to keep him informed of any developments that might reflect embarrassingly upon Parliament.

West writes in an amusing way, and manages to convey a huge amount of information about some of the more quirky aspects of life in the Palace of Westminster. The plot is ridiculous, but presumably deliberately so, and I found it a pleasantly diverting, if insubstantial, read. ( )