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applegnreads's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly, this author's ability to make us want to read a story while not particularly liking our main characters is pretty amazing. I'm not sure what to make of it. Charles Paris isn't likable but the story is interesting.
itabar's review against another edition
2.0
Decent plot. I think I would have liked it better if I liked the main character, a depressing alcoholic. I'll give the second book in the series a try before I give up on it.
malongorose's review
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
verityw's review against another edition
4.0
This series came up as a suggestion from Audible, and I ended up reading this first book and had a whale of a time doing it. Paris is in the grand tradition of not very nice but still strangely appealing and sympathetic detectives and is a lot of fun to read about. The mystery is good and the resolution very clever and neat. I'll be reading more...
spectacledbear's review against another edition
3.0
I have heard a few of the radio adaptations of Simon Brett's novels featuring Charles Paris, and enjoyed them (partly due to Bill Nighy's involvement). The book is a quick read, fairly gentle and very much of its time (lots of references to the oil strike, three day week, and political issues of the mid-70s).
It was pretty perfect for reading on a plane, which is where I read the majority of it. If you like a gentle mystery with some nice touches (I enjoyed the occasional snippets of Paris's varied reviews which flash through his head as he disguises himself and chooses spiritists characters and voices for sleuthing purposes), I would recommend it.
It was pretty perfect for reading on a plane, which is where I read the majority of it. If you like a gentle mystery with some nice touches (I enjoyed the occasional snippets of Paris's varied reviews which flash through his head as he disguises himself and chooses spiritists characters and voices for sleuthing purposes), I would recommend it.
debsd's review against another edition
3.0
I freely admit that I listened to this because it was narrated by the wonderful Bill Nighy. I caught a little bit of it on Radio 4 one day while I was driving and decided to seek out the rest of it. It's very light entertainment, but it passed a couple of hours in the car.
I also got my hands on the original book and read the first few chapters of it, just to see how different it was. The radio adaptation is fairly loosely "based on" the original book. I probably won't continue to read the rest of the series, but as I've got the audio version now, I might stick it on in the car next time I've got a drive of a reasonable length on my own.
I also got my hands on the original book and read the first few chapters of it, just to see how different it was. The radio adaptation is fairly loosely "based on" the original book. I probably won't continue to read the rest of the series, but as I've got the audio version now, I might stick it on in the car next time I've got a drive of a reasonable length on my own.
offmessage's review
4.0
You can see how Simon Brett gets going with this, his first, "cosy" detective story. It's aged pretty well, despite the references to petrol crises, interest rates of 11% and tax rates of 80% (and its attitude to sex). Hugely enjoyable, Paris is an excellent unwilling (and often unwitting) detective.
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