Dearest Gentle Reader, this Monday brings a reckoning with the sky itself - two thousand seven hundred reasons to take the summer rather more seriously than the ton has been inclined to do. There is, besides, a scientific miracle accomplished in eight weeks, a murderous mystery in Devon with a man in Rotherham and a red car, and a seventeen-year-old who has entirely redefined what is meant by a handicap. This Author has much to report, and not all of it permits a smirk - though one or two stories certainly invite one.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this Sunday brings dispatches of the gravest and most varied sort - a murder investigation that has stretched from Dartmoor to South Yorkshire, a Chancellor dispensing parting wisdom with a smile that does not quite reach her eyes, and a Kingdom that is, quite literally, on fire. This Author has much to set before you, and not all of it will be easy reading - though she promises to make it as bearable as the heat permits.

Dearest Gentle Reader, this day has delivered grief most genuine, a royal visit most calamitous, and a bail application so audacious it left seasoned detectives speechless. This Author has survived the heat, the headlines, and the revelation that a letter from a rapper carries less legal weight than one might hope - and she is ready to report every last extraordinary detail.