<p>A delightful new setting&mdash;London&mdash;a wonderful new cast of characters and one incredibly clever dog.<br>&#160;<br>Corduroy Mansions is the affectionate nickname given to a genteel, crumbling mansion block in London&rsquo;s vibrant Pimlico neighborhood and the home turf of a captivating collection of quirky and altogether McCall-Smithian characters. There&rsquo;s the middle-aged wine merchant William, who&rsquo;s trying to convince his reluctant twenty-four-year-old son, Eddie, to leave the nest; and Marcia, the boutique caterer who has her sights set on William. There&rsquo;s also the (justifiably) much-loathed Member of Parliament Oedipus Snark; his mother, Berthea, who&rsquo;s writing his biography and hating every minute of it; and his long-suffering girlfriend, Barbara, a literary agent who would like to be his wife (but, then, she&rsquo;d like to be almost anyone&rsquo;s wife). There&rsquo;s the vitamin evangelist, the psychoanalyst, the art student with a puzzling boyfriend and Freddie de la Hay, the Pimlico terrier who insists on wearing a seat belt and is almost certainly the only avowed vegetarian canine in London.<br>&#160;<br>Filled with the ins and outs of neighborliness in all its unexpected variations, <i>Corduroy Mansions</i> showcases the life, laughter and humanity that have become the hallmarks of Alexander McCall Smith&rsquo;s work.&#160;</p><br><br><br><i>From the Hardcover edition.</i>