And then they tumble to the fact that, beside being a villain, Kendrew is also an ace investigator."This gives an author problems, of course. First off, he's got to explain why Kendrew might want to solve crimes in the first place. Second, he's got to explain why nobody rubs him out for what seems like changing sides...""And what are the reasons?" I ask."Read the flaming books and find out for yourself, you skinflint," smiles Ephraim Dark, thought not in quite those words.Dark is a bit of a mystery man himself. This plush penthouse flat is the sort of place you'd expect a best-seller writer to have Except that he already had it before he started writing. How could he afford it? And how does he know so much about crime from the inside? And why does he say so very little about his early years? Was he, perhaps, involved in those very activities which he describes so well...?"About your early years..."Dark reaches over and takes hold of my coat with both hands, then squeezes till I nearly choke to death."You wouldn't be interested in my early years, mate," he says. "Just ask me about my new prize-winning thriller, Murder in the Dome...""Well, there's a rumour going round that you may have staged that big diamond grab at the Dome simply as publicity for the book..." I begin."Here, boys!" calls Ephraim Dark.Two very big men come in."This gentleman is asking silly questions," says Dark calmly. "I think it's time he left."I leave, aided by the two big men.

Yes, Ephraim Dark is certainly a crime writer with a difference. I shall read his books with great respect. More from Miles Kington. The rape of the countryside has been halted. New figures show that the 40-year environmental impoverishment of rural Britain has at last been stopped, and in some places turned around, scientists said yesterday The rape of the countryside has been halted. New figures show that the 40-year environmental impoverishment of rural Britain has at last been stopped, and in some places turned around, scientists said yesterday. Green policies put in place increasingly over the past 10 years have succeeded in checking the once-unstoppable march of intensive farming, which saw decades of hedges ripped out, woods cut down, ponds drained, fields soaked in chemicals, and animals, birds, flowers and insects disappearing throughout the land.The countryside has now stabilised, although at a lower level than before.

The environmental quality of some areas is still declining, but the physical loss of landscape features and habitats has on balance been arrested.The evidence is contained in a detailed survey of all Britain's habitat types, from fens and bogs to arable farmland, produced by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, which is part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The study, Countryside Survey 2000, released yesterday, shows that the numbers of a whole range of natural features such as ponds and hedges began to creep back up in the 1990s after dropping in some cases for four decades."In the UK things got a hell of a lot worse in the Fifties, Sixties, Seventies and Eighties," said the NERC chairman, Professor John Lawton. "Over a long period of time, driven largely because farmers are economic beasts and the common agricultural policy encouraged them to go down a certain route, the countryside got steadily poorer. But now a number of these long-term declines have been stopped or turned around."The survey says that "negative trends in some key components of countryside quality have slowed or halted during the 1990s". It notes, for example, that the species-richness of wild plants in some cereal fields in England and Wales went up by 38 per cent; that the vast hedgerow losses of the 1980s had been halted and losses in the 1990s may have been reversed; that similar losses of dry stone walls have been halted; and that the number of lowland ponds in Great Britain increased by 6 per cent between 1990 and 1998.Broadleaved woodland expanded by 4 per cent in England and Wales and by 9 per cent in both Scotland and Northern Ireland between 1990 and 1998, while the total area of coniferous woodland in the UK was unchanged.The area of heather moorland across the country has been maintained, although the quality of some of it has declined. Wetlands are on the up: fen, marsh and swamp expanded by 27 per cent in England and Wales and by 19 per cent in Scotland (but fell by 19 per cent in Northern Ireland).

The biological condition of streams and small rivers in Britain also improved, with 25 per cent of sites in better condition at the end of the decade, and only 2 per cent worse off. But it is not all good news: chalk grassland, one of southern England's most characteristic and best-loved habitats, is still in steep decline and dropped in area by 18 per cent in the decade. Wild flowers in roadside verges and along the sides of streams are also dropping in number, squeezed out by nitrogen pollution from farm fertilisers and motor vehicle exhausts. The improvements have been brought about by the steady application of greener policies since the 1980s, particularly in agricultural support, where farmers are paid to look after wildlife on their land.

There has also been massive investment in environmental improvements by water companies. Individual wildlife species and habitats have been helped by biodiversity action plans - Britain now has more than 400, more than any other European Union country."I think the figures show that things are beginning to get better," said the Environment minister Michael Meacher. "A number of the measures we have put in place are beginning to pay off, and it's good news.". Tony Holley has become the latest player from the United States to cash in on his British passport by quitting Manchester Giants to join Elizur Ashkelon in Israel, where he now qualifies as an EU citizen. Tony Holley has become the latest player from the United States to cash in on his British passport by quitting Manchester Giants to join Elizur Ashkelon in Israel, where he now qualifies as an EU citizen. Holley joins Tony Dorsey and Danny Lewis, also playing in Israel, Todd Cauthorn and Chris Fite, now plying their trade in Belgium, and Robert Youngblood, in Germany, all of whom qualified either through residency or marrying an English woman. Holley obtained his passport in the summer.Dorsey's qualification has at least benefited the national team, as he is filling the one "naturalised" spot permitted under international regulations, and was part of the England team which played Latvia last night in the European Championship.Holley's defection was described as a "bombshell" by his club, although he will be the last to use this route to a lucrative contract for some while as no other overseas players are close to obtaining a British passport.The 6ft 5in, 32-year-old forward has played in England for over nine years and was in his third season with Manchester. "We have reluctantly agreed to release Tony from his playing contract," said the Giants general manager, Nick Montgomery.