Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less: your questions answered
Fifty years of letters, and the same questions keep arriving.
Some of them I am delighted to answer. One or two of them I have been refusing to answer since 1976 and I do not intend to start now. Here are the ones that come up most.
If what you actually want to know is which parts of the book really happened to me, that is a different page, and rather a more interesting one. The true story behind the book
About the book
What is Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less about?
Four men are swindled out of a fortune by the same man, and none of them knows the others exist. An Oxford don, a Harley Street physician, a French art dealer and an English lord. They find each other, and they decide to take it back. Every penny of it, and not one penny more.
Is it a thriller, or a comedy?
Both, and I did not plan that. It has a crime at the centre and a great deal of laughter around the edges. If you want it filed neatly on one shelf you will be disappointed.
How long does it take to read?
Most people tell me they finish it in two or three sittings. A worrying number tell me they finished it in one, and then rang me at an unsociable hour to complain about the lost sleep. I take that as the finest compliment there is.
Do I need to read anything else first?
No. It is a standalone novel and it was my first, so there is nothing before it. Start here.
Is there a sequel?
There is not, and there will not be. I have been asked for one for fifty years. The four of them got what they came for, and I have always thought it would be greedy to send them back for more.
Is it part of a series?
No. My series are the Clifton Chronicles, the William Warwick novels and the Kane & Abel trilogy. This one stands entirely on its own.
The title and the ending
What does the title actually mean?
It is the rule the four men set themselves. They will recover exactly what was stolen from them. Not a penny more, because that would make them no better than the man who robbed them. Not a penny less, because he does not deserve to keep a farthing of it.
Where did the title come from?
A friend found it on page 88 of my manuscript, which is a story I tell properly on the True Story page. Every publisher told me it was far too long for a cover. Mary told me nobody remembers an author’s name anyway. She was right, as she generally is.
Will you explain the ending?
I will not. I have been asked at least a thousand times and my answer has not changed. Read it again if you must. It is all there.
Is the ending a twist?
Reading groups argue about this and I enjoy listening. Some readers see it coming. Others tell me they had to go back and check. I shall say nothing further, because saying anything further would ruin it for the person reading this over your shoulder.
The 50th Anniversary Edition
What is different about the anniversary edition?
Two things I never expected to see printed in a novel. The Aquablast share certificate, which is the piece of paper that cost me my house. And the cheque the BBC sent me for £58, which was the price of a television and radio licence at the time. One represents the ruin. The other represents the beginning of the recovery. > > There is also a foreword in which I tell the whole story properly.
When is it published?
The 27th of August, 2026, from Pan Macmillan.
Do I need it if I already own the book?
If you have read the novel and simply want the story again, no. If you want to see the actual evidence of how the whole thing started, then yes, and I would say that even if I had no interest in the matter.
Film and television
Has it been adapted?
The BBC did it, first on radio and later on television. Pierce Brosnan once told me that if it were filmed again he would want to play Harvey Metcalfe. Not the hero. The villain. He was quite right, villains are far more fun.
Is a new adaptation coming?
We are working with Paramount, who co-own the screen rights. I am not yet allowed to tell you who is writing it or who is making it. I can tell you they are enormously talented, and that I would very much like to see it reach the screen while I am still here to watch it.
What to read next
If I loved this, what should I read of yours?
Kane & Abel. It is the book that changed my life, and more than half my readers tell me it is the best thing I have ever written. Around a quarter still insist it is this one. I have given up trying to settle the argument.
Reading groups have been arguing about it since 1976, largely about whether four men taking the law into their own hands are heroes or criminals. I have written the questions myself. Book club questions for Not a Penny More
And the question I am asked most of all
Did this really happen to you?
Some of it. Rather more of it than most people expect, and considerably less of it than the four men would have you believe. > > That deserves a proper answer, and it has one. The true story behind Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less
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Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less – 50th Anniversary Edition
