replacement in the "Pride of Lions". Bobbie Maws: "Pride of Lions" member. Alfie Maws: Bobbie Maws' father. Publican ("Lion and Unicorn"). Gangly man with a raw face part-paralysed down one side. Suspects stolen gold bullion is at Hazeley Hall. The "Pride of Lions" hold their meetings in the "Lion and Unicorn". Mrs. (Nance) Maws: Alfie Maws' wife. Bobbie Maws' mother. "Lion and Unicorn" cook. Won't let her husband contact police about theory Merck has stolen gold bullion at Hazeley Hall. Police have been snooping around their pub and troubling them for serving drinks after hours. Nobby Scales: Postman. Jack of all trades. Knows everybody's business. Uses GPO van to kill one of Merck's Doberman Pinschers. Captain David Bond: James Bond Junior's father. (James Bond 007's brother.) Airline pilot. Inherited Monkshill estate (in Beacon Hill on the Kent-Sussex border) from his own father three years prior. At story's end Hazeley Hall comes on the market again and Captain David Bond buys the stables, the walled garden and the bothy. Captain Bond shows a profit on the sale of Monkshill. Mrs. Bond: James Bond Junior's mother. Her sister Penny is in the hospital so she and her husband David Bond fly to Dar es Salaam to look after Penny's kids. Les Bottome: Daily Clarion crime reporter. Canon Wycherly-Pidgeon: Vicar. Mr. Hignett, B.Sc. Manchester: Headmaster of the Secondary Modern. Face like dough with currants for eyes. Aspirates and drops his aitches. Sergeant Daintree: Constabulary. According to Alfie Maws, Daintree is a "six-foot-three strip of eighteen-carat ignorance." Merck complains that Hignett's students are suspected of vandalising Merck's land rovers. Satan: Merck's Alsatian (male). Sheelagh one of dog's handlers. James befriends dog with Sheelagh's help. Cerberus: Merck's Alsatian (female). Sheelagh one of dog's handlers. James befriends dog with Sheelagh's help. Mr. Dash: Mrs. Frame's gardener. Mr. Manvell (and daughter): Veterinary; owns a kennel on lot next to the Hazeley property. Drives a Land-Rover. Nearly collides with Lady Conningtower driving her husband's Jaguar late one night. Dr. Hartshorn: tends to injured James at book's end. Diagnoses James with pleurisy, double pneumonia and a torn ligament. Miss Hubbard: local children's author. Claims she has fairies not only at the bottom of her garden but also at the top. Reception Claire Tomalin in The Observer said, "the story is a small perfect triumph in the hands of a master. This is probably the best bet for Christmas if