Denham, Bertie

About the author

Lord Denham of Weston Underwood (1927–2021) was educated at Eton and King’s College, Cambridge. In 1948 he succeeded his father as second Baron, and in 1961 started his political career as a Government Junior Whip in the House of Lords. From 1979-1991 he was Government Chief Whip, seeing though all of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, and much of John Major’s. He was keen on hunting, and hunting appears (though not exactly as the pith and nub of the book) in one of his thrillers, Foxhunt. He wrote four books about the hero of this book, Derek Thyrde, and quite possibly some of the others have an element of horse too. I’ve only read one, Foxhunt. It is hokum, but agreeable hokum, as someone once said. He’s better at writing male characters than female: the tough girl semi-heroine certainly didn’t ring true to me. Her fling with the hero struck me as more male wish fulfilment than anything else.

Finding the book
No longer in print but easy to find.

Sources and links
Bertieverse – Bertie Denham’s Private Secretary, Douglas Slater on working with Bertie Denham, and his verse (link no longer works)
Wikipedia