Conclave: The bestselling Richard and Judy Book Club thriller

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Robert Harris is the author of fifteen bestselling novels: the Cicero Trilogy - Imperium, Lustrum and Dictator - Fatherland, Enigma, Archangel, Pompeii, The Ghost, The Fear Index, An Officer and a Spy, which won four prizes including the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction, Conclave, Munich, The Second Sleep, V2 and Act of Oblivion. This is one of those books that is a slow but effective burner, the writing is good and the plot entertaining.

These four men vie as best they can before cardinals place their minds in God's hand to help them cast their ballots. As cardinals arrive from all over the world to cast their ballots, Lomeli wrestles with a few issues surrounding cardinal electors, including one Cardinal Tremblay, the Vatican Camerlengo, its temporary leader, a French-Canadian who was apparently removed from all positions the night before the pope died. So as undemocratic as this recent United States presidential election feels, it is without contestation way closer to representing the wishes of the people than the process used to determine the leader of the Catholic church.

The Dean of the Election of the Pope is Cardinal Lomeni This becomes a Herculean task try to keep everyone on track. His work has been translated into forty languages and he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. While the outside world is left to wonder what is going on, receiving only the most minimal of news in the form of curling smoke from a chimney, inside the Sistene Chapel there is much politicking. Ever since I've read about the papal conclave for the first time in Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, I've been fascinated with the Catholic Church's process of electing a new Pope - a tradition observed for hundreds of years. Harris is not in the business of messing about with his readers, and usually gives sensible clues – no impossible Agatha Christie twists here, but although I realised there was a significance in an event described (no spoilers) I couldn’t work out what it was.

The story is certainly not a thriller but an informative drama about the comings and going-on within the Vatican and not only during the conclave but before and after the conclave. And, indeed, after a few more moments, Tremblay sighed – a long, theatrical, almost ecstatic exhalation. During the intervening time, the funeral must take place and Lomeli handles sundry pieces of Vatican business ahead of the papal election. Harris’ superlative skill at depicting power politics makes this an irresistibly gripping papal page-turner.Unconcerned with religious debate or philosophical argument, Conclave quickly descends into high camp. Lomeli thought he was about to deliver a blessing, but instead the gesture was a signal to two of his assistants from the Apostolic Camera, who entered the bedroom and helped him stand. It was quite gripping, although you knew that the front runners were almost certainly not going to come through and that there would be twists and turns and surprises. His work has been translated into forty languages and nine of his books have been adapted for cinema and television. I will say this, however - even though the conclusion is somewhat predictable, there is still an element of suspense and surprise right till the very end.