'I have been Matthew Lynn for too long,' says Matthew Lynn, financial scribe and TV commentator. 'It was time for a new me.' His new name is James Harland, under whose nom de plume he has just written a financial thriller, The Month of the Leopard.

Harland has pulled off a rare treat - a story about the financial markets that is, for once, riveting and filled with characters thatare instantly recognisable.