The Quest for Graham Greene, by W.J. West (Phoenix, £8.99 in UK

A much more condensed effort than Norman Sherry's monumental endeavour, West's book does not purport to be a full-blown biography, but instead concentrates on some of the more bizarre events in Greene's life. The main one would appear to be his self-imposed exile from England in the Sixties, which most commentators put down to a desire on his part to alleviate his tax problems. West maintains that Greene was, in fact, fleeing possible prosecution on foot of his involvement with a swindler named Tom Roe who, in partnership with film star George Sanders, was operating a scam to persuade wealthy people to become involved in tax avoidance - Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin were other victims. As West's evidence for this is based on the papers of James Hadley Chase - author of such potboilers as No Orchids for Miss Blandish - a certain dubiousness attends its authenticity. The book, as a whole, has a sensationalised air to it, but it does make for a good read, and illuminates backwaters of its subject's life that he himself did much to obscure.