My good friend, who's taste in books I believe in, had asked me to read this book sometime ago. However, as the cover is an unattractive purple, with an unattractive looking man in a black suit and black hat holding a black umbrella; I was not very convinced. To top it all, the book had a French sounding name Monsieur René. Thus it was that the pleasures of this wonderful book eluded me for a long time! However, when I finally did pick up the book (just because it was Peter Ustinov and I rememb More...

A light-hearted farce by Peter Ustinov, struggles to be witty and deal with middle-aged sexual angst and the fear of being alone. A host of unlikely characters who are mostly drawn (or caricatured) from real life!

This comedic take on the classic spy mystery novel by one of the great story tellers of the 20th century is worth a rainy afternoon.

Ustinov as usual excels himself. He takes a nondescript character and the kind of color and life he gives such a character is amazing!

His prose just flows through the book with its witticism and humour.

I am a fan of his books, and very few people know about Ustinov as a writer, besides an actor ( well know for his potrayal as M Poirot in Agastha Chritie's mystery movies, and as a film director).