Cat O'Nine Tales

Published on September 17, 2007

However, not being of a finicky nature, this reviewer will let that pass and go on to say that the book was, for the most part, entertaining. Adding to the collection's appeal was that most of the stories are true - the author confesses in the introduction that they were harvested from his fellow jailbirds during his two-year "sabbatical" at her majesty's leisure. And a lot of these real-life crimes are oh, so clever.

First there's the tale of the husband and wife team who get away with robbing their own post office and end up settling down in Portugal, cashing in on the British tourist trade through their fish and chip shop. To follow, there's the Italian restaurateur who manages to evade the long arm of the tax man, producing a yacht and expensive holiday homes through creative accountancy. Then there's Max, a cricket fanatic who gets away with selling a fake antique chess piece to a peer of the realm, but eventually, of course, gets checkmated with three years in prison.

However, despite what Lord Archer says in the introduction, it's difficult to see how all these stories came from his prison cell. There's the tale of his best friend Bob Radford, for instance, who manages to avoid a huge divorce settlement, or the one of a clever Bombay criminal meeting his match in an even cleverer commissioner.

And for a book that's billed as crime fiction, there's another quibble: this reviewer is still searching for signs of criminal activity in the story of the Italian footballer who has a penchant for overweight, rich women, or the tale about an old Greek chap dying in the middle of a wedding. Perhaps Archer decided that 12 was a lucky number, but if so, he struggled to fill the quota. Hardly a crime, though.

Besides, Ronald Searle's little sketches of cats doing human-like things hold the attention and remind the reader that anything related to Sir Jeff shouldn't be taken too seriously.

By Jeffrey Archer

Drawings by Ronald Searle

Published by Pan Books

Available at Asia Books, Bt350