Simon Brett Books In Order

Blotto and Twinks Books In Publication Order

  1. Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter (2009)
  2. Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess (2010)
  3. Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera (2011)
  4. Blotto, Twinks and the Bootlegger’s Moll (2012)
  5. Blotto, Twinks and Riddle of the Sphinx (2013)
  6. Blotto, Twinks and the Heir to the Tsar (2015)
  7. Blotto, Twinks and the Stars of the Silver Screen (2017)
  8. Blotto, Twinks and the Intimate Revue (2019)
  9. Blotto, Twinks and the Great Road Race (2019)
  10. Blotto, Twinks and the Maharajah’s Jewel (2021)
  11. Blotto, Twinks and the Suspicious Guests (2022)

Charles Paris Books In Publication Order

  1. Cast in Order of Disappearance (1975)
  2. So Much Blood (1976)
  3. Star Trap (1977)
  4. An Amateur Corpse (1978)
  5. A Comedian Dies (1979)
  6. Dead Side Of The Mike / Mic (1980)
  7. Situation Tragedy (1981)
  8. Murder Unprompted (1982)
  9. Murder in the Title (1983)
  10. Not Dead, Only Resting (1984)
  11. DeadGiveaway (1985)
  12. What Bloody Man is That? (1987)
  13. A Series of Murders (1989)
  14. Corporate Bodies (1991)
  15. A Reconstructed Corpse (1993)
  16. Sicken and So Die (1996)
  17. Dead Room Farce (1997)
  18. A Decent Interval (2013)
  19. The Cinderella Killer (2014)
  20. A Deadly Habit (2018)

Decluttering Mystery Books In Publication Order

  1. The Clutter Corpse (2020)
  2. An Untidy Death (2021)

Fethering Mystery Books In Publication Order

  1. The Body on the Beach (2000)
  2. Death on the Downs (2001)
  3. The Torso in the Town (2002)
  4. Murder in the Museum (2003)
  5. The Hanging in the Hotel (2004)
  6. The Witness at the Wedding (2005)
  7. The Stabbing in the Stables (2006)
  8. Death Under the Dryer (2007)
  9. Blood at the Bookies (2008)
  10. The Poisoning in the Pub (2009)
  11. The Shooting in the Shop (2010)
  12. Bones Under the Beach Hut (2011)
  13. Guns in the Gallery (2011)
  14. The Corpse on the Court (2012)
  15. The Strangling on the Stage (2014)
  16. The Tomb in Turkey (2015)
  17. The Killing in the Cafe (2015)
  18. The Liar in the Library (2018)
  19. The Killer in the Choir (2019)
  20. Guilt at the Garage (2021)

Mrs Pargeter Books In Publication Order

  1. A Nice Class of Corpse (1986)
  2. Mrs., Presumed Dead (1988)
  3. Mrs. Pargeter’s Package (1990)
  4. Mrs. Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh (1992)
  5. Mrs. Pargeter’s Plot (1996)
  6. Mrs. Pargeter’s Point of Honour (1998)
  7. Mrs Pargeter’s Principle (2015)
  8. Mrs Pargeter’s Public Relations (2017)

Sod Books In Publication Order

  1. How to Be a Little Sod (1992)
  2. Little Sod’s Next Step (1994)
  3. Not Another Little Sod (1997)

Three Detectives Books In Publication Order

  1. The Three Detectives and the Missing Superstar (1986)
  2. The Three Detectives and the Knight in Armor (1987)

Standalone Novels In Publication Order

  1. A Shock to the System (1984)
  2. Dead Romantic (1986)
  3. After Henry (1987)
  4. The Booker Book (1989)
  5. The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor (1992)
  6. Singled Out (1995)
  7. The Penultimate Chance Saloon (2006)

Short Story Collections In Publication Order

  1. Tickled to Death (1985)
  2. A Box of Tricks (1985)
  3. Crime Writers and Other Animals (1998)
  4. A Crime in Rhyme and Other Mysterious Fragments (2000)

Non-Fiction Books In Publication Order

  1. Seriously Funny, and Other Oxymorons (2003)
  2. Baby Tips For Dads (2004)
  3. Baby Tips For Mums (2005)
  4. Baby Tips for Grandparents (2006)
  5. On Second Thoughts (2006)

Plays In Publication Order

  1. Murder In Play (1994)
  2. Mr. Quigley’s Revenge (1995)
  3. Silhouette (1998)
  4. The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood (1998)
  5. Sleeping Beauty (1999)
  6. Putting the Kettle on (2002)
  7. A Small Family Murder (2009)
  8. A Healthy Grave (2010)

Anthologies In Publication Order

  1. 1st Culprit (1992)
  2. Crime Story Collection (2000)
  3. Malice Domestic 10 (2001)
  4. The Sunken Sailor (2004)
  5. Thou Shalt Not Kill (2005)
  6. The Detection Collection (2005)
  7. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe (2011)
  8. Bodies in the Bookshop (2014)

Blotto and Twinks Book Covers

Charles Paris Book Covers

Decluttering Mystery Book Covers

Fethering Mystery Book Covers

Mrs Pargeter Book Covers

Sod Book Covers

Three Detectives Book Covers

Standalone Novels Book Covers

Short Story Collections Book Covers

Non-Fiction Book Covers

Plays Book Covers

Anthologies Book Covers

Simon Brett Books Overview

Blotto, Twinks, and the Ex-King’s Daughter

Ex Princess Etheline, daughter of the exiled king of Mitteleuropia, has been kidnapped during a visit to Tawcester Towers, ancestral seat of the Dukes of Tawcester, and ducal family honour demands that she should be rescued. The Dowager Duchess entrusts the task to her son, the Right Hon. Devereux Lyminster, known universally as ‘Blotto’. He is, of course, terribly handsome, honourable and brave, but as sadly deficient in the brains department as his sister ‘Twinks’ is gifted. So Blotto sets off, accompanied by trusty former batman and chauffeur, Corky Froggett. They drive across many countries to Mitteleuropia, a realm now ruled by a usurper, the ex king’s brother, where they suspect the princess has been taken. Can brave Blotto and loyal Corky rescue Ethelinda, or will they meet their end in the evil clutches of King Vlatislav?

Blotto, Twinks and the Dead Dowager Duchess

The extremely aristocratic but extremely thick Blotto and his extremely brainy sister Twinks are attending a weekend house party when the inevitable happens. Their hostess, the Dowager Duchess of Melmont, is murdered. An amateur detective, conveniently staying for the weekend, deduces that the Lyminster family chauffeur Corky Froggett must have done it. For Blotto and Twinks, the only way to prove Corky’s innocence is by finding the real perpetrator. So begins the second investigation for the daring duo…
one which takes them via an opium den in Limehouse, a Scottish castle and a disused Cornish tin mine, to a thrilling final confrontation at the nerve centre of the evil League of the Crimson Hand. Yes, Blotto and Twinks are back! Praise for Simon Brett: ‘A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans’ P D James. ‘Murder most enjoyable’ Colin Dexter. ‘Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone’ Jilly Cooper. ‘Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted’ Sunday Times. ‘One of British crime’s most assured craftsmen…
Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment’ ‘Guardian’.

Blotto, Twinks and the Rodents of the Riviera

Consternation at Tawcester Towers! While giving a guided tour of the house’s Long Gallery Blotto is stunned to discover that two of the family portraits a Gainsborough and a Reynolds are missing. Tawcester Towers has been the victim of art thieves! Blotto is forced to summon his brilliantly intelligent sister Twinks who instantly deduces that the paintings have been stolen by a gang of international art thieves based in Paris. So Blotto and Twinks instantly set off in the former’s Lagonda for France! Their investigations in Paris bring them into contact with the absinthe soaked art community of the Rive Gauche, but after an attempt on his life at the Folies Bergere, Blotto is persuaded by Twinks that it is to Nice they must travel, as the criminal mastermind La Puce runs his evil empire from there, funded by the proceeds of many European art collections including those from Tawcester Towers. The French Riviera is a gay old place, and following various lead, Twinks makes contacts with many expatriates and Americans all leading the good life, including the famous silent movie star Mimsy La Pim, who Blotto finds himself curiously drawn to. But after a particularly decadent party it is discovered that Mimsy has been kidnapped by La Puce and so it is up to Blotto and Twinks to save the starlet from many fates worse than death and restore the fortunes of Tawcester Towers to boot! Praise for Simon Brett: ‘A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans’. P D James. ‘Murder most enjoyable’. Colin Dexter. ‘Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone.’ Jilly Cooper. ‘Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted’. ‘Sunday Times’. ‘One of British crime’s most assured craftsmen…
Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment.’ ‘Guardian’.

Cast in Order of Disappearance

Who killed Marius Steen, the theatrical tycoon with a fortune to leave his young mistress Jacqui? And who killed Bill Sweet, the shady blackmailer with a supply of compromising photographs? Charles Paris, a middle aged actor who keeps going on booze and women, takes to detection, by assuming a variety of roles, among them that of a Scotland Yard Detective Sergeant, and the results are both comic and dramatic. As the mythical McWhirter of the Yard, he actually precipitates the crime; as one of the blackmailer’s victims, he finds himself in bed with the blackmailer s wife; as a small part player in a horror film The Zombie Walks, he gets shot at by a murderer. And he arrives at the solution by way of the petrol crisis and an abortive attack of the German measles. It s a light hearted frolic that is, at the same time, a beautifully ingenious puzzle, and it fizzes with fun and wit.

So Much Blood

Charles Paris returns again, in a fringe show at the Edinburgh Festival, with another nubile girl to provoke him, and his accommodating wife to console him, and a gory murder to challenge him. Edinburgh and the Festival are both background and foreground with Charles flitting between a ‘revisualised’ Midsummer Night’s Dream, a ‘mixed-media satire’, a late-night revue, and his own one-man show on Thomas Hood-and with a fading pop star as the first victim, a bomb scare in Holyrood Palace, and a suicide leap from the top of the Rock. Charles copes splendidly with the Festival, with his affair with the girl with the navy eyes, and with a most complex murder investigation.

Star Trap

Text for Author Bio: Simon Brett is a former radio and television comedy producer, who has been writing full time for more than twenty years. Creator of the Charles Parks, Mrs. Pargeter and Feathering series of mysteries, his psychological thriller, A Shock to the System was filmed, starring Michael Caine. Married, with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie style village in West Sussex, England. Text for Book Description: Simon Brett is back with one of his best theater inspired detective novels. Though the target for murder is an odious theater and television star, actor/detective Charles Paris finds that the main character is behind the strange happenings backstage, including the rehearsal pianist being shot in the hand, and an actor falling and breaking his leg. Why does the star want to sabotage his show? The answer is one much more human than it first appears.

An Amateur Corpse

An Amateur Corpse is another fascinating Simon Brett mystery set in the backdrop of theater. Charles Paris is a part-time detective and professional actor, drawn into the affairs of an amateur theater company. Charles’s friend Hugo’s wife is murdered, and Hugo is charged with the crime. Now, Paris takes on the case personally. The solution to the mystery lies in a clever double alibi. An Amateur Corpse is an absorbing, and entertaining account of theatrical backstaging, backscratching and backbiting.

A Comedian Dies

Charles Paris, middle aged actor turned amateur sleuth, is vacationing at a small English seaside town. Irresistibly drawn to anything theatrical, Charles seeks entertainment at the local music hall and endures a series of not so wonderful vaudeville acts in the hope that the man given star billing will be worth watching. But when Bill Peaky comes on stage with his electric guitar and grasps the microphone, he instantly drops dead, apparently due to faulty wiring of the stage equipment. It looks like an accident, but Charles is not so sure, and starts to find out more about the people in the other acts on the bill: Janine, the pretty dancer who disappears; Chox Morton, seedy and unduly nervous; and Lennie Barber, a one time star comedian trying to make a comeback. The more Charles investigates, the more suspects turn up.

Dead Side Of The Mike / Mic

Murder at the BBC? It’s almost unimaginable. When Andrea Gower, the beautiful studio manager is murdered, the producer s only concern is the dead air emanating from the transmitter. But Charles Paris, the now famous actor/detective has come to Broadcasting House to give a talk, and ends up as a mystery voice on a showbiz quiz show. Paris has to wallow through layers of BBC scandal, and uncovers a complicated fraud with clues concealed in seemingly innocent announcements. These clues lead to a trap that is nearly the end of Mr. Paris.

Situation Tragedy

West End Television are planning a new situation comedy series, to be called The Struttters. From the outset, things go horribly wrong with the new series. Odd accidents if they are accidents remove, one by one, the sharp tongued Production Assistant, the self effacing script writer, the hearty Floor Manager. Death even takes from us the revolting Yorkshire terrier, Co*cky, who’s the idol of the indestructible Dame Aurelia Howarth, theatrical star for fifty years.

There s no discernible pattern in all this, but Simon Brett s regular sleuth, the bit player Charles Paris, is confidently on the trail of another mass murderer. But the bizarre solution, brilliantly led up to, surprises even him.

Murder Unprompted

Here is another of Simon Brett’s fascinating blends of crime and backstage drama. This time he provides what might be described as the biography of a play from the cradle to the grave. Murder Unprompted takes you from the author, to an unscrupulous producer, to the theater itself, to director, to cast including Mr. Brett s bit player detective, Charles Paris. But trouble starts the first night. The star can t remember his lines, and worse he s shot dead on stage. Paris takes on not only his usual role of detective, but lead of the play as well…
a role that will lead him to the perpetrators of the crime. Murder Unprompted will delight theater buffs as well as all lovers of mystery.

Murder in the Title

Simon Brett again takes us behind the scenes in a back stage drama of crime and detection. This time it’s the world of provincial rep, with an historic theatre threatened with closure by unscrupulous property developers. And the theatre management seems to be digging its own grave: a deplorable choice of current productions; a painfully incompetent director; bizarre accidents happening on stage. Charles, as Mr. Brett s readers know, is an amateur detective and a professional actor. As an actor his career is still on the way down, with not much further to go. But as a detective he goes from strength to strength. He soon establishes that someone is deliberately sabotaging the company. All this culminates in a spectacular suicide. Or is it murder, as Charles Paris suspects?

Not Dead, Only Resting

Tristam Gowers and Yves Lafeu have the flamboyance of stage matinee idols, but currently they are running a very smart restaurant, Tryst, which is much patronized by top people in the theatrical profession. Which means it’s not Charles Paris s usual ambience, but this small part player, who s more successful as an amateur detective than as professional actor, is the guest tonight of another fascinating duo, William Bartlemas and Kevin O Rourke, wealthy collectors of theatrical memorabilia. And he is in at the death: the gruesome murder of Yves. It seems to be an open and shut case. Tristam caught the night boat to France within hours of a spectacular public quarrel with Yves over a pretty youth, and now he has disappeared. But of course there s much more to it than that: much more, as Charles discovers when he begins to investigate.

DeadGiveaway

Poor Charles Paris: as an actor, which is his chosen profession, he is reaching rock bottom; but as a detective, the role he is continually called upon to play, he’s brilliant, as he demonstrates again in his latest adventure. He is now reaching the lowest form of showbiz life, the television give away panel game. And when he and his vast audience least expect it, there s a murder in the studio, right in front of the cameras. Once again, Simon Brett reveals his mastery as he unravels a complex mystery and revels in the humour of this showbiz world.

What Bloody Man is That?

Charles Paris is on his way up again, career wise. No longer resting and no longer just a corpse in a cupboard, he blossoms in the play dreaded by superstitious theatre folk, who will not even speak its name: the Scottish play Macbeth. It’s only in the provincial rep, but you have to start or re start somewhere. And his agent has promised that though what s offered is not much of a part, other good parts are in the offing . By which perhaps is not meant precisely what happens: that Charles finds himself doubling almost every role in the play that isn t held by the three principals. And as for the principals, they could hardly be more ill sorted. Macbeth is played by George Birkitt, the TV game show personality whom we met in Dead Giveaway. Lady Macbeth comes straight from Stratford: an intense young woman with Method in her madness. And Duncan is that notorious old ham, Warnock Belvedere, who feels that he s in the tradition of great acto managers. With such a cast, sparks are bound to fly. It s not long before death strikes in the night. And Charles Paris takes on the role of private eye

A Series of Murders

Charles Paris is in clover. He has been contracted for three whole months to play brainless bobby Sergeant Clump, foil to the charismatic amateur sleuth, Stanislas Braid, in a TV series of that name. Recourse to the Bell’s is still needed, however, to get him through a day s filming one made all the more arduous by the pompous posturings of the show s star, and the constant outraged interruptions of the ancient author whose detective novels are being adapted. Indeed, there is plenty of friction about, but when a particularly unpromising actress is killed, crushed to death, there seems no reason to doubt it was an accident except in Charles s mind. Leaving behind a trail of broken resolutions and empty bottles, Charles indulges in some sleuthing of his own. He may lack the panache of the suave Stanislas Braid, but unlike the great detective the danger Paris encounters is only too real. A Series of Murders is a witty and delightful addition to Simon Brett s popular series.

Corporate Bodies

Hired to operate a forklift in a corporate video, struggling actor and English sleuth Charles Paris finds the job complicated when a girl on the set is crushed to death by the machine.

A Reconstructed Corpse

Playing the missing Martin Earnshaw on a true crime television program, actor detective Charles Paris believes his career has hit a new low and begins to suspect that the production team is orchestrating its own subject material. PW.

Sicken and So Die

Things are looking up for struggling actor Charles Paris. He’s landed a plum role in a production of ‘Twelfth Night’, forged a reconciliation with his wife and even cut back on his favorite comfort liberal shots of Scotch whiskey. But when the play’s director falls mysteriously ill, a replacement with a vision takes the reins and turns the production into a farce. Charles’s life takes a turn for the worse as he returns to the bottle and loses touch with his wife but it’s the murder of a fellow thespian that makes him get hold of himself and take on the role of detective.

Dead Room Farce

Charles Paris has taken a part in the new farce, Not On Your Wife! which may make a West End run. Rehearsals have gone well, the laughs are plenty, and there’s the attraction of Cookie Stone. But it’s not long before a darker mood sets in: Charles’ old friend Mark has a drinking problem that amounts to a death wish. And it’s not the drink that kills Mark, it’s someone in the cast…

The Body on the Beach

Very little disturbs the ordered calm of Fethering, a pleasingly self contained retirement on England’s southern coast. Which is precisely why Carole Seddon, who has outlived both her husband and her career at the Home Office, has chosen to reside there. So the last thing Carole expects to encounter in Fethering is a new neighbour with but one name and an obviously colourful past. ‘Jude’ was not really Fethering…
but neither was the body Carole found on the beach. A body, it has to be said, that has disappeared by the time the police arrive. Only Jude is ready to believe what her neighbour says she saw and from that moment on, the two women are resolved to turn detectives. ‘Simon Brett comes up trumps yet again…
an excellent thriller.’ ‘Irish News’. ‘A new Simon Brett novel is an event for mystery fans.’ P. D. James. ‘Pure pleasure from beginning to end.’ ‘Birmingham Post’. ‘I stayed up until three in the morning finishing this delightful, thoroughly English whodunnit.’ ‘Daily Mail’.

Death on the Downs

It wasn’t the rain that upset Carole Seddon during her walk on the West Sussex Downs. It wasn’t the dilapidated barn in which she was forced to seek shelter. No, what upset her most was the human skeleton she discovered there…
So begins the second investigation for strait laced Carole and her more laid back neighbour Jude. This time their enquiries take them away from Fethering to the small download hamlet of Weldsham, where gossips quickly identify the corpse as Tamsin Lutteridge, a young woman who disappeared from the village months before…
‘Simon Brett has got into his stride with his second book in the ‘Fethering Mysteries’ series…
His light touch produces an enjoyable mystery.’ Susanna Yager, ‘Sunday Telegraph’. ‘Welcome return for Brett’s lady sleuths…
As crime gets a harder edge, it’s refreshing to have an amiable light hearted tale, which makes the most of wit and atmosphere. A gentle stroll down mystery lane.’ ‘Yorkshire Post’. ‘One of the exceptional detective story writers around.’ ‘Daily Telegraph’

The Torso in the Town

A dinner party at a Fedborough mansion with some stuffy, not very close friends is not exactly Jude’s cup of tea. But the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is much more up Jude’s alley. Once again, Jude and her reluctant neighbor Carole, find themselves embroiled in another puzzling whodunit. ‘Few crime writers are as enchantingly gifted…
as Simon Brett.’ Sunday Times, London ‘A marvelous send up of contemporary British society…
the kind of writing that makes you want both to savor the prose slowly and to turn the page quickly.’ Booklist, starred

Murder in the Museum

Books 4 and 5 in the light and witty Fethering Mystery series, with Carole and Jude investigating more crimes in seaside England. Simon Brett is a very dependable author, very well respected in the crime writing world. The Fethering series Body on the Beach, Death on the Downs, Torso in the Town has proved successful so far, especially in hardback. Simon Brett worked as a radio and TV producer before taking up writing full time. As well as the Fethering Mysteries series, he is also the author of the TV series After Henry, the radio series No Commitments and Smelling of Roses, and the best selling How to Be a Little Sod. His novel A Shock to the System was filmed starring Michael Caine.

The Hanging in the Hotel

A group of local businessmen, the Pillars of Sussex, has descended upon the Hopwicke Country House Hotel, where Jude is waitressing as a favor to her friend. But when a man interested in joining the Pillars is found dead, Jude suspects foul play, and drafts Carole into conducting their own investigation, one that’s sure to topple a few Pillars…

The Witness at the Wedding

The seaside town of Fethering is home to Carole Seddon and Jude and a place rife with foul play, as evidenced in the sixth mystery in the series.

Carole’s son is getting married to a wonderful girl with rather odd parents. Not only do they have no interest in meddling with wedding preparations, but the mere thought of publicizing the affair frightens them beyond words.

And when the father of the bride is found brutally murdered, Carole enlists Jude’s help in finding an uninvited guest before the festivities become completely funereal.

The Stabbing in the Stables

When healer Jude pays a visit to Long Bamber Stables one evening to meet her unusually equine new client and his owner Sonia Dalrymple she does not expect to stumble across a man laying in the darkness. Co owner of the stables, Walter Fleet, has been viciously stabbed to death. Sleuthing neighbours Jude and Carole begin to make discreet enquiries, but it soon becomes clear that Long Bamber Stables is a hotbed of dangerous passions, murderous rivalries and hidden truths…
and this horsing community will do anything to protect their reputations. ‘Murder most enjoyable…
An author who never takes himself that seriously, and for whom any fictional murder can frequently form part of the entertainment industry’ Colin Dexter, ‘The Oldie’.

Death Under the Dryer

Carole had never had such a bad hair day! The last thing she expected when she went for a trim at ‘Connie’s Clip Joint’ was to find the body of Kyra, Connie’s assistant, in the back room, strangled. Immediately involving her friend and neighbour Jude, Carole becomes determined to investigate the death. Meanwhile Kyra’s boyfriend Nathan Locke has vanished. His family, an eccentric, controlling bunch don’t seem overly concerned. Instead they are bizarrely obsessed with a family board game which seems to provide a host of clues as to Nathan’s whereabouts. Can Carole and Jude unravel the clues and discover the truth before someone is falsely accused, or before the killer makes a second deadly move? And how many haircuts can a middle aged sleuth have before people become suspicious?

Blood at the Bookies

The bets are on whodunnit when a body is found at the bookies…
Jude has never been averse to a bit of a flutter; her friend Carole, on the other hand, thinks that the local betting shop is a den of iniquity. But when Jude stumbles upon the body of Polish immigrant Tadeusz Jankowski the race is on to find his killer. The odds aren’t looking good. No one seems to know anything about the mysterious Tadek even his sister can’t shed any light on what he was doing in Fethering. Who was the anonymous woman in the bookies who seems to have vanished?Why was Tadek interested in the local university? And who is the ‘Fifi’ Tadek spoke of with his dying breath? As they question the local residents, Carol finds an unexpected friend in an inveterate gambler and Jude finds herself in potentially more trouble than she can handle with a lecherous and charming drama professor. In this race there can only be one winner, but with no leads and several suspects in the running will our lady detectives be pipped at the post by a cold and calculating killer?

The Poisoning in the Pub

What’s your poison? Fethering residents, Jude and Carole, get more than they bargained for when a lunchtime meal in their local pub leaves everyone with food poisoning. The landlord is horrified and when a series of disasters start to befall his business, it looks like it could be the end of the road for the Crown and Anchor. Left with a bad taste in their mouths and not just from the food the two amateur lady detectives wonder if it might just be more than a run of bad luck, which is forcing their favourite pub into bankruptcy. When Ray, a young man with the mental age of a five year old, is found in the kitchen of the pub with a knife through his heart Carole and Jude swing into action. There’s a killer on the loose in Fethering and Carole and Jude need to uncover who it is before it’s last orders for the pub and themselves.

The Shooting in the Shop

Christmas can be murder…
Carole Seddon hates Christmas it all seems rather a waste of time. So when her neighbour and best friend, Jude, drags her along to go shopping at a local store called Gallimaufry, she can feel her inner Scrooge knocking. But the sales are on and even Carole can’t resist a bargain. Then, a few days later, Gallimaufry is burnt down and a body is discovered in the ashes. It seems like a tragic accident, but no one can die of natural causes when a gun is involved. The victim was young, pretty and in a long term relationship who could possibly want her dead? With a host of suspicious characters the infamous womanizer Ricky Le Bonnier with a string of ex wives; Piers Duncton, a comedy writer who just isn’t that funny; or Anna Carter, the lonely dog walker the lady detectives know they have their work cut out for them. And as they dig deeper they discover a host of half truths and lies. It seems that someone in Fethering has a deep, dark, deadly secret and is prepared to kill to keep it.

Bones Under the Beach Hut

The affluent seaside resort of Smalting is unaccustomed to crime. So when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of one of its beach huts, the community is awash with suspicion and fear. Amateur sleuths Carole Seddon and best friend Jude are drawn into the mystery, and their suspicion quickly falls on attractive Philly Rose, a young Londoner newly arrived in the area, whose boyfriend has recently vanished in mysterious circumstances. When the Bones Under the Beach Hut are identified, the ghosts of the past are painfully reawakened, and long hidden secrets begin to surface. Bones Under the Beach Hut is an ingenious mystery from one of England’s favorite crime writers, exquisitely plotted with cracking dialogue, colorful characters, and packed with unexpected twists.

Guns in the Gallery

A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in several embarrassing confrontations. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. The police seem happy to accept that it was suicide, but Fethering residents Carole and Jude remain unconvinced…

A Nice Class of Corpse

Brett introduces Melita Pargeter, his newest detective. Melita is a rich and vivacious widow whose mystery solving talents come in handy when a murderer stalks a hotel for retirees. ‘An amusing caper…
Mr. Brett is in top form’. The New York Times Book Review.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Package

A trip to Corfu is not Mrs Pargeter’s usual idea of a holiday, but keeping a recently widowed friend company overrules her misgivings. But when that friend starts behaving strangely and then is found having apparently committed suicide, Mrs Pargeter resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Pound of Flesh

Brett’s latest Mrs. Pargeter mystery is a witty romp through the world of health and fitness with a charming and droll hero*ine one who won’t stop sleuthing until she gets her pound of flesh. ‘A jolly frolic, as light as a slice of fat free angel food cake.’ The Baltimore Sun.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Plot

Melita Pargeter, widow of much loved crook Mr Pargeter, embarks on an escapade to prove the innocence of her beloved friend, builder ‘Concrete Jacket’, who has been arrested for murder. Someone has set him up but who? Mrs P calls on her band of ex cons to help her trap the real killer.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Point of Honour

Mrs Pargeter is forced to find out more than she would wish about her husband’s ‘business activities’, when she recreates one of his most famous scams.

The Three Detectives and the Missing Superstar

The disappearance of Britain’s leading rock star begins an investigation by the Three Detectives.

A Shock to the System

What a shock indeed who would have thought murder could replace a good education and hard work as the keys to corporate success and upward mobility? ‘Teti…
reads dispassionately in a British clip that cools into chilling self complacence with each successive killing’. Publishers Weekly.

The Christmas Crimes at Puzzel Manor

This crime novel invites reader participation. Included are pictures of the evidence and an intricate series of puzzles, quizzes, crosswords and riddles which challenge the reader to outwit the hero of the novel and discover the murderer first. Answers are included at the rear.

Singled Out

Believing that her family is somehow cursed with evil, producer Laura Fisher reluctantly starts a family of her own, and when her son is accused of murder twenty years later, Laura digs up a shocking secret from her own past.Tour.

The Penultimate Chance Saloon

Soul searching was an unfamiliar exercise to Bill Stratton, and he found it intriguing as well as painful. He hadn’t had much occasion for it in his life, given that he was fairly shallow, but then, on the verge of his sixtieth birthday, his wife told him she was leaving him for another man. He’d been under the impression they had a happy marriage. She assured him that for nearly forty years, in fact since the second week of their honeymoon, she’d known she was married to the wrong person. This all came as a bit of a shock to Bill. Hence the soul searching. Brought up to be a responsible sort of chap, and hitting young adulthood just the wrong side of the sixties, Bill had not had much experience of dating or sex, for that matter before he met and married Andrea. Post menopausal dating might be very different to dating in your twenties or thirties, but then he didn’t know much about either scene. Still, as a mildly famous television newsreader who’d managed to hold on to most of his looks, it seemed he was about to have plenty of opportunities to find out.

Crime Writers and Other Animals

Here are ten cleverly plotted masterpieces from one of England’s most famous mystery writers. Included in this collection are Happy Christmas, Darling and Goodbye!, where an eternal triangle is fractured by the unlikeliest of murder weapons; and The Man Who Got the Dirt, with two authors who have become more than just rivals; as well as eight other exceptional mysteries.

Baby Tips For Dads

Congratulations! The nine month wait is over, your son or daughter is in your arms…
but what happens now? Help is at hand in this nifty book that provides quick and quirky advice on everything from nappies to night time nibbles. Whether you are a new dad or the seasoned father of a lively horde, make this little book the latest addition to your household.

Baby Tips for Grandparents

Another nine months is up and the cycle starts all over again. This time, though, you’re not the one with bags under your eyes and the sound of desperation in your voice. Enjoy your grandchild secure in the knowledge that you can hand the puking, pooing little tyke back to its exhausted parents at the end of the day. Now it’s their turn to experience all those sleepless nights and panic attacks that the miracle of a new baby brings. By the author of ‘Baby Tips for Dads’ and ‘Baby Tips for Mums’, this book is full of quirky and humorous advice on dealing with another generation of your family.

Malice Domestic 10

Clue into a world of murder and mayhem from the ingenious minds of today’s most fiendishly clever mystery writers:K.K. Beck, Simon Brett, Susan Dunlap, Carolyn Hart, Melodie Johnson Howe, M.D. Lake, Martha C. Lawrence, Peter Lovesey, Margaret Maron, Sujata Massey, Katherine Hall Page, Anne Perry, Nancy Pickard and Elizabeth Daniels SquireWitness the crimes and uncover the evidence of murder at its most unusual…
and diabolical A screenwriter scorned plots a chilling revenge suitable for celluloid A four footed sleuth takes on the perplexing case of the missing Christmas goose A widow who narrowly escapes death has a surprise in store for her would be slayer A cheating quartet of married lovers plans the perfect crime And More! The Malice Domestic Series

The Sunken Sailor

During a weekend house party in a proper English village, a body is discovered at the bottom of a pond tied to a submerged statue of Neptune. And the weekend has only just begun. So has this ingenious mystery a literary game of round robin in which fourteen master crime writers have each contributed a chapter of their own. What they deliver is a wildly entertaining whodunit with as many dizzying twists, turnabouts, double crosses, and divergent styles as there are solutions and suspects. Featuring the bestselling and multiple award winning talents of: Simon Brett Jan Burke Dorothy Cannell Maragaret Coel Deborah Crombie Eileen Dreyer Carolyn Hart Edward Marston Francine Mathews Sharan Newman Alexandra Ripley Walter Satterthwait Sarah Smith Carolyn Whe

Thou Shalt Not Kill

The greatest story ever told; the rise and fall of civilizations, empires, kings, despots, prophets and disciples; tales of love, betrayal, revenge, war, and disaster, the most fundamental and eternal myths and fables of Judeo Christian society; the end of the world the Bible has all of these. And now acclaimed mystery author Anne Perry has culled together an extraordinary list of writers from Sharyn McCrumb, Carole Nelson Douglas, Robert Barnard, Marcia Talley, Susan Moody and Peter Lovesey to Sharan Newman, Nancy Pickard, Reginald Hill, Gillian Linscott, Simon Brett, and Peter Robinson to contribute all new mystery and crime stories inspired by and based on these most ancient of biblical tales.

From Sampson and Delilah to David and Goliath; from Mount Sinai to the Last Supper, Thou Shalt Not Kill explores the stories of the bible as chilling expressions of the most basic instincts found in the Good Book. With fifteen unique and inspired twists on the traditional mystery story, Thou Shalt Not Kill is an inimitable edition to any library.

Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe

Authorized by the estate of the late Raymond Chandler, this volume reveals the missing life history and detective adventures of Philip Marlowe, one of the 20th century’s most enduring and beloved characters. Marlowe is the quintessential American detective: cynical yet idealistic; romantic yet full of despair; a gentleman capable of rough violence. The final story in the volume is Raymond Chandler’s last Marlowe adventure:The Pencil. The stories run chronologically through the career of Marlowe, from 1935 through 1960. These are classic Marlowe tales of betrayal, mistrust, and double dealing on the seamy side of Los Angeles.

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