Losing the plot Julian Farrand, who started life as a solicitor before becoming insurance and now pensions ombudsman, has leapt into yet another profession: author.

According to the cover blurb of his first book, Love at all Risks - ominously self-published - is, get this, 'the story of Ollie, the pedantic ombudsman with an eye for the ladies'.

His office is staffed by 'eccentric characters' who enjoy 'boozy lunches, scandal-mongering and lesbianism'.

If that were not enough, Ollie embarks on a 'passionate, adulterous affair, with 'Lot the hot-shot solicitor'.

Having built up a reputation within the pensions world as being a bit of a maverick, Obiter can but wonder if Ollie, whose mission seems to be to upset insurers, is in any way autobiographical - let's hope not.

Alongside what many would see as a mistake in a novel, that is, discussions of judge's reasonings in insurance cases, the book also provides lengthy footnotes of decisions to add veracity.

After wading through five chapters of bad grammar, dubious storylines, and worrying dialogue, Obiter can only admire Dr Farrand's courage and confirm that whilst there may be a book in everyone, sometimes that is where it should stay.