Fifty shades of tartan

Rupert Campbell-Black rides again as the Duke of Inchtyra, impoverished laird of rock and bog'

- By Joe Gibbs

PUBLISHERS, form an orderly queue! Mourners of Jilly Cooper, lament no more. The Mother Laird, maternal vessel to our friend the Lovelorn Laird of the Highlands, has written a Highland bonkbuster, a Caledonian bodice ripper, a veritable Celtic scorcher. Rupert Campbell-Black rides again as the Duke of Inchtyra, impoverished laird of Castle Roy and acres of rock, bog, heather and little else. The pace is furious. By only page 15, a buxom nanny is spied by her charge, nude and kneeling over the naked Duke, their bodies 'reflecting the ruddy glow of the bedroom fire', Nanny moaning as the Duke's hands 'moved up to her'. The next 450 pages pass in a blur. 'Bagpipes, kilts, ghosts, the blooming heather, whisky and murders galore enrich this truly Highland saga,' the blurb promises.