It’s surprising, after your delightful feature on how London fog has “seeped into fiction” (Beyond the pall, Review, 31 October), that no one has mentioned Margery Allingham’s superb 1952 novel, The Tiger in the Smoke. In it Albert Campion hunts for a killer through a muffling London particular. I urge you to read it, and her other Campion novels. They remain lively and beguiling.
Antonia Till
London
• Oi! Lay off us old folks as being ignorant and louche about avocados (Ripe and ready: how ‘evil geniuses’ got us hooked on avocados, 2 November). Check out André Simon, who in 1942 recommended eating them with a vinaigrette, and Jane Grigson, who in her book on vegetables gives some very good recipes. The avocado became rather a dinner party cliche in the 70s. It all comes round again.
Eyke Shannon
Westleton, Suffolk
• Not only does the new UK passport feature only two women (Report, 4 November) but, remarkably, it manages to celebrate the “Creative United Kingdom” by failing to include any Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish people at all.
Elizabeth Scott
Edinburgh
• Never again will I encounter a man so generous of spirit as Colin Welland (Obituary, 4 November). Most writers are fiercely protective of their work. Not so Colin, always open to any thoughts to improve his Chariots of Fire screenplay. It was a privilege to have known him.
Tom McNab
Technical director, Chariots of Fire
• Thanks to all the Guardian readers who have enhanced my “customer experience” and taken me on so many “learning journeys” (Letters, 3 November).
Ruth Eversley
Paulton, Somerset
• I can probably put up with “oven chips” and even a “replacement bus” as long as they’re not “hand crafted”.
Rev Dr Peter Phillips
Swansea
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
