On the night he died, Mr Weir phoned Ms Wilkinson to say he was about to board his helicopter at the mine and would be home shortly.

BBC: Tribute to crash death Honister slate mine owner

His book has greater depth than Ms Weir's, but his style is dry and relentless.

ECONOMIST: Tudor history

Elections to the deanery synods are due in spring 2014 - "so that's obviously a key first date to start getting people motivated, " said Ms Weir.

BBC: Women bishops: Backers look to new general synod election

Ms Weir opens vividly with descriptions of the splendours of royal palaces and ceremonies, sumptuously illustrated from the Household Ordinances and accounts, records of tournaments and the dispatches of ambassadors.

ECONOMIST: Tudor history

Unfortunately, Ms Weir appears to have misread the document.

ECONOMIST: Tudor history

Ms Weir's is unquestionably livelier.

ECONOMIST: Tudor history

Ms Weir said many single parents, who had been away from work for many years, were being put "under intense pressure" to find work by ministers who did not "recognise the real-world constraints that make it hard for them to find and keep a job".

BBC: Jobless lone parents 'pressured'

But Laura Weir, head of policy and campaigns at the MS Society and chair of the Patients Involved in NICE group, said people with other conditions needed to be considered too.

BBC: Concerns over cancer fund future

Two days later a device was delivered to Labour politician Ms Godman's constituency office in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire.

BBC: Parcel bombs sent to Neil Lennon, McBride and Godman

"The Weir" is carefully structured to build up to Valerie's big scene, and Ms. Klein knows how to deliver the payoff.

WSJ: Truth Is Scarier | The Weir | Irish Repertory Theatre | The Master Builder | Brooklyn Academy of Music | By Terry Teachout