This, the latest book by S. Peter Dance, is a collection of notes made over the 50 years or so he has spent studying shells. It is not your `normal` shell book, with classifications, descriptions and so on. But rather it is a fond reflection, with sections such as `Royal Connections`, `Murder most foul`, `Conchology - Ho Ho!`, and `Molluscs and the Law`. The book is a compilation of all those notes and memories of his years of experience.