[On the whole, Full Term] does not contain as many intricate side plots and proliferating confusions as [Stewart's] earlier novels, but the dramatic high points, when they come, are devastating in their effect: Ranald McKechnie, the remote classical don married to the woman Pattullo once loved, at last struck down by his mechanical leaf-gathering and scrub cutting monster; Fiona, with whom Pattullo has been conducting a muffled and elusive affair, finally rejecting his tentative proposal in an enraged out-burst of masterly irony.

To someone new to the series [Stewart's Oxford novels]—and there cannot be many at this late stage—this volume will not be particularly accessible. There are few new faces, and much delving into Pattullo's complicated past….

Full Term is largely concerned with tying up the loose ends of Pattullo's life so far (we find him at the end enjoying vicarious parenthood, so we can be...