From the introduction: Roger Dabness, a reptilian old bachelor on an extended hiatus from his position as a History and Classics Professor at Edinburgh University. Ostensibly in Brighton to scatter his mother’s ashes over the decrepit remains of the West Pier, where she met his father in the late thirties, Roger has found his plan scuppered by the partial collapse of the pier in a recent storm. He’s still carrying around the ashes in a zip-locked plastic bag he keeps inside his briefcase at all times.