Dear Mr Cornwell,

I’ve just read ‘Fools & Mortals’ and thoroughly enjoyed it. (Your publisher did an inspired bit of advertising by posting the first paragraph on Facebook and I was hooked – I had to run out and buy it straight away!). However, there are two really bad typos in the trade pb ed which you might like to ask your publisher to correct on the next reprint. I can’t find promising contact details on the HarperCollins website so thought it best to send them to you: p 143, 8 lines up: ‘ceruse and powdered penis’ – please tell me this should be powdered pearls, as elsewhere in the book (if not, it should specify what kind of penis – dog, horse, etc – so that we know it’s not a typo.) P 206, 2nd last paragraph begins with ‘I’m better than you think’ and in the next sentence refers to ‘those four words’. There are five.

I know it’s bad manners to point out mistakes and my apologies if I’ve caused offence. But I enjoyed your book and think it’s worth fixing. Many thanks for the engrossing read.

Paula