This is a thoughtful book, and with it Laurence Catlow sets himself a tough target: an analysis of the ethical issues relating to shooting and fishing. Confessions is a complex, if fogeyish work which contrasts the arguments against the passing of the Cumbrian sporting seasons. Unfortunately, it takes more than a good idea to make a good book, and although there are some good stories in here, something doesn’t quite click for me, at least. To succeed, a diary has either to be of outstanding interest or to be written with outstanding style. Confessions just misses both marks, though it has to be said that I am not a fan of Catlow when his writing strays away from plain tales of fishing and shooting. This is the best of his books.