DARLING BUDS OF MAY

Celebrating 60 perfick years of the Larkins, this prettily decorated new paperback has cover art by Becky Bettesworth. "Home looks nice. Allus does though, don't it? Perfick." One pleasant May evening, Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children return to the rustic charms of their Kent farm. Waiting for them is a young man, Mr Cedric Charlton, an upstanding Inspector of Taxes, come to discover why they haven't paid any. Yet as junk-dealer Pop patiently explains, nothing's ever that simple at the Larkins'. Before long his eldest daughter Mariette takes a shine to young Cedric, seducing him with the delights of country living - the lusty scents of wild flowers, the pleasures of a bottle of Dragon's Blood, cold cream dribbled over a bowl of strawberries, and the sweet song of nightingales. Will Cedric come to his senses, or will he beat a hasty retreat to the office? 'A pulsing comedy of country manners.' - Times. 140pp, softback.