A Very English Scandal chronicles Thorpe's early, secretive love life, at a time when sexual activity between men was illegal, and his subsequent public exposure.

[6] Nicholas Shakespeare, writing in The Telegraph, gave the novel five stars out of five, noting that Preston "tells this complicated story of cack-handed assassins, buffoonish policemen, dodgy Home Secretaries and sozzled judges simply and with relish.

"[7] The Guardian's Chris Mullin described the novel as "a real page-turner", adding that it is "probably the most forensic, elegantly written and compelling account of one of the 20th century’s great political scandals".

[5] The New York Times' Marilyn Stasio agreed that "Preston has written this page-turner like a political thriller", but wrote that "no matter how hard he tries...his central character comes off as selfish, arrogant and manipulative".

The series was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Stephen Frears, with Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw starring as Thorpe and Scott.