Novel pursuit

'If you never thought it was possible to read a newspaper in a menacing fashion, then you have never met my mother.' So begins the debut novel of the Gazette's very own news and features editor, Neil Rose, which is officially launched next week but is already in many bookshops (Piatkus Books, 6.99).

Bagels for Breakfast is a comedy about Marek Elliot, a 28-year-old north London solicitor who finds himself at the mercy of more women than he knows how to handle, not least his mother, who is itching to put ten years of reading 'You and Your Wedding' to good use.

Trade magazines Publishing News and The Bookseller have named Neil as one of the most promising debut novelists of the next few months; Publishing News described it as a 'witty and engaging debut in the tradition of Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons', while The Bookseller found it 'a jolly comedy'.

This is the first of a two-book deal, with Neil currently working on a novel whose hero is a City solicitor.

Rumours that the third is to star a rugged yet handsome legal journalist are, as yet, unconfirmed.