‘It’s no fun being an aesthete; one’s sensibilities are constantly being outraged.’ Poor old Gerald Samper: he should be writing librettos but instead he’s a ghostwriter for airhead celebrities.

In this third Samper book, Gerry is still managing to cook up trouble. This time, his house collapsed, he returns to England and it’s his ‘vole-au-vents’ (complete with field mouse) that cause the strife. One aristocrat down, he returns to Tuscany and a scam involving sightings of an apparition of Princess Di. Fans will be glad to hear that neighbour Marta is still around, as is real estate smooth-talker Benedetti, and we manage to glimpse Gerry’s softer side via his partner Adrian’s emails to a friend. Hamilton-Paterson’s comic timing is impeccable. It’s the wickedness of Samper combined with his cultivated sensibilities (and the recipes), rather than plot, that makes Rancid Pansies such a pleasure. Samper eventually starts writing a libretto about Princess Di. Nothing is sacred: ‘And it seems to me your life was like / A condom in a gale / Puffed rigid by publicity’s wind / And shrivelling when it failed.’

Cooking with Fernet Branca, the first Samper novel, won the BBC People’s Booker award. If you haven’t already, start there and work your way here.