The Observatory by Daylight

Simon Robson's "The Separate Heart" was one of the most acclaimed collections of stories of recent years. Perhaps the best story was called "The Observatory by Daylight". Now, in his first novel, Robson has taken that story as his launch pad...Timothy, the headmaster's son, is in a wheelchair, and spends his free time at the school observatory. It's only three weeks till exams when he gets a visit from Raafi, charismatic sixth-form heart-throb and fixer, who needs to know the contents of the Maths A-level paper. But only Timothy has access to the keys of the filing cabinet. He names his price. Join Raafi, astronomer-narrator Timothy, multicolor-haired sweet-counter salesgirl Trixy, closet spin-bowler Marcel and Phil the school caretaker on an amazing adventure in the last summer holidays of the twentieth century. Neither German delicatessen owners, coke-fiend jockeys, IRA hit-men nor murder and mayhem in the English countryside can come between them and the mystery of Raafi's exotic parentage as they pursue the whereabouts of the lost Persian treasure of the Oxus Cup.
A captivating mixture of intrigue, sex and extremely fine writing, "The Observatory by Daylight" is the Famous Five for grown-ups. And not so grown-ups.