A set of intriguing tales of our time - some dark and challenging, others light and quirky.

The title story tells of a young piano salesman in Harrods who comes across a Bechstein grand in storage that appears to have been neglected. Would anyone miss it? There's only one way of finding out. Grasshopper and Unlucky for Some chronicle the trials and tribulations of single women and online dating. It should be so straightforward, yet even something as simple as meeting up with the right person can be a problem.

Pirates invade a usually placid Derbyshire town in Matlock Meg and the Riber Hoard, and in Runner a trio of yobs get the shock of their lives when they try to avoid paying at Mr Ping's Chinese restaurant. Zulu the police dog will entertain, telling his own story in Woof Justiss, and octogenarian Dotty expands her vocabulary (and possibly yours) when she delves into the history of that word.

Beneath the twists and turns of the narrative flow some thought-provoking themes: status based on ill-gotten gains; the self-destructiveness of road rage; the therapeutic nature of a good limerick; the inhibited sex life of the clergy.

John Hughes has skilfully interwoven adventures from his own life with the fruits of his imagination in thirteen stories that will have you chuckling one minute, gasping the next, and quite possibly shedding a tear or two.'