We haven’t heard much from James Heneage, the founder of Ottakar’s, since the bookseller was sold to Waterstones in 2006.

But Heneage is back, appropriately, as an author in his own right.

His novel, The Walls of Byzantium, has just been published and is described as a “sweeping historical novel, rich in story and character” and “shaped by the quest for a hidden treasure”.

Sounds exciting, as befits a man who named his business after a Tintin book.

Ironically, given Heneage’s love for bricks-and-mortar bookshops, but unsurprisingly, the book is also available on the Kindle.

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