Hector Chetwode-Talbot, Eck to his friends, spends his days charming his wealthy contacts with large gin and tonics at Ascot or Wimbledon. He is a 'greeter' for an investment fund and it seems everyone has money to invest.

It is on a golfing trip to France that Eck first meets Charlie Summers, a fly-by-night entrepeneur who is hiding out in France after a misunderstanding with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Despite their different backgrounds Charlie and his dodgy schemes reappear in Eck's life with surprising regularity. And when, with almost no warning, Eck's world is turned upside down he has to ask himself, between he and Charlie, who has the most to lose?

'Charlie is a wonderful creation, at once sad and heroic, whose search for redemption attains real pthos at the end of this affecting, skilfully crafted novel' FINANCIAL TIMES