Sunday is when we do beginnings, taking a look at the start of a Peter Abrahams novel, including those written under the Spencer Quinn moniker™. (Moniker’s a very strange word we’ve taken the liberty of trademarking piratically.) Since tennis has been cropping up here recently let’s take a look at the beginning of chapter 2 of Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, where Mrs. P makes her first appearance:

Something amazing happened on Court #2 of the New Sunshine Golf and Tennis Club just before lunchtime on the day after New Year’s, although it was amazing to only one person, namely Loretta Plansky, a seventy-one year old widow of solid build and the only female player in the whole club with a one-handed backhand.

(Note: I too have one-handed backhand. Not uncommon for men, but you rarely see a woman with a one-handed backhand at any level.)