13 JANUARY 1979, page 24

Last Things

Paul Ableman Final Payments Mary Gordon (Hamish Hamilton £4.95) 'I thought how easy it would be to kill a woman like that. Youcould lure hcr with coffee and doughnuts and then......

Bach As Background Music

Alvar Lidell Some time ago I was invited by the BBC to contribute a talk to the occasional Radio 3 series entitled 'In Short'. I had little idea what to write but I found, as I......