''The greatest Scottish novelist of modern times . . . She was peerless, sparkling, inventive and intelligent - the crème de la crème.'' Ian Rankin

One October evening five London couples gather for a dinner party, enjoying ''the pheasant (flambe in cognac as it is)'' and waiting for the imminent arrival of the late-coming guest Hilda Damien, who has been unavoidably detained due to the fact that she is being murdered at this very moment.

With an introduction by Ian Rankin.

Symposium is Muriel Spark - one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century and author of classics including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - at her wicked best.

''A rich, heady, disturbing brew.'' Lorna Sage

''Extremely clever and highly entertaining.'' Penelope Lively

''Stiletto-sharp fiction.'' Alan Taylor, Scotland on Sunday