Brace Yourself

John Leighton, owner of a fine estate in the Cotswolds, lives well – when we meet him he is 'warmly encased in leather-lined Le Chameau boots, neat Habicht binoculars slung loose around his neck, and he carries a boxlock Holland and Holland Cavalier shotgun in one hand.' Weekend shooting parties are nothing new to him – but for Leighton this will be the first (and last) to be attended by some friends, some business contacts, his wife's lover, and an undercover London hit-man.