Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction joke in the book is that Adrian does not know whether Mr Carlton-Hayes' partner Leslie is a man or a woman; this is never made clear. Although they are from different backgrounds, he and Adrian share an appreciation of literature, contempt for Michael Flowers, and a similar reservation about expressing their feelings. It is revealed in that Leslie is a man and implied they both left their wives for their relationship. Pauline is Adrian's mother, and plays less of a role in the story than in previous books. Like Adrian, Pauline is inclined to spend using money she hasn't got.
Adrian Mole declining health might make this plan impossible. Townsend died on 10 April 2014. Her British publisher said the writer had been working on a new Adrian Mole story at the time of her death. The book, which had the working title "Pandora's Box", was due for publication later in 2014. A spokesman for Michael Joseph said: "We can confirm that Sue was in the middle of writing the book. Her editor had seen what she describes as 'a few wonderful pages'. It was supposed to be out this autumn and we are very sad that we won't be able to