If you like Gordon Mackie's writing, which I do, then you are in for a treat, 'cos the lad is one of us. By some strange chance he is also known as Geoffrey Oaklands, Warburton and Old Sarum, so you may well have read him when he was pretending to be someone else. All these dodgy pseudonyms aside, he has the right attitude.

This book is a collection of short pieces, many of which have already appeared in print before; if you are a Salmon, Trout and Sea-Trout reader, you can be forgiven for a sense of déjà vu. Like most compilations, Fly Leaves seems a bit choppy if you set down to read it straight from cover to cover; the constraints of magazine format making the pieces seem too uniform in length and style. On the other hand, as a book to dip into, it knows few equals, and I can recommend it for those dark winter nights (or mornings, depending on the way of things.)