David – I have friends like Jane. Love, adore them. But they can be difficult women to love, whereas someone like Bob is a good man to be around after spending all day with prickly people like Jane. That’s how I see it.

Like you, I read Atlantis Cranks first (because in fact it was written first, even though the stories were published in order of occurrence rather than the order in which they were written). Atlantis Cranks blew me away when I read it in manuscript, though I also like Closing Arguments better.

Unlike you, I found Jane immediately likable, but Bob seemed almost forgettable, and I was surprised at how much depth there was to him when Sarah came up with Closing Arguments.