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3.37 AVERAGE
3.37 AVERAGE
It's the classic British whodunit, set in a seaside town, with two elderly ladies taking on the role of the nosy private investigators. They are no Miss Marple, and I feel that this book didn't add anything new to the genre, so I probably won't read any of the others. But if this genre is your jam, then it's competently written, and you'll probably enjoy it.
A very British mystery, dry and acerbic in its portrayal of "proper" village life.
A game of find the body.
Will continue reading this series.
Will continue reading this series.
Carole, a buttoned-down, highly OCD sort, lives in a small country town, Featherings. When a young woman named Jude moves into the cottage next door, Carole enlists her help when she finds a body on the beach, which subsequently disappeared.
The two women form an unlikely pact to find out just what is going on.
Enjoyable cozy mystery which had me laughing out loud at several points as Carole details the strictures on Feathering's social structure. The mystery was interesting with twists and turns but the mystery wasn't the most important aspect of the book. Rather Carole and Jude and the town's inhabitants were front and center.
The two women form an unlikely pact to find out just what is going on.
Enjoyable cozy mystery which had me laughing out loud at several points as Carole details the strictures on Feathering's social structure. The mystery was interesting with twists and turns but the mystery wasn't the most important aspect of the book. Rather Carole and Jude and the town's inhabitants were front and center.
A good read with several interesting twists. Carole Seddon has retired to Fethering with very certain notions on proper behavior and the "thing to do". A new neighbor, Jude, who gives no last name to everyone moves in and seems to be rather bohemian and careless. Carole's life has been rigidly planned and leaves no room for being friendly with this neighbor. But one morning as Carole is walking along the beach with her dog (acquired to give her a good reason for walking), she discovers a dead body with 2 wounds on the neck. She is so shocked and shaken that it takes her awhile to call the police and when they come to talk to her about it, she finds they did not discover a body on the beach. She is so rattled, she confides this to her neighbor. And Jude decides if the police won't investigate, they will. Carole begins to exhibit some rather un-Carole behavior when around this neighbor, such as calling in at the pub (Carole is NOT a "pub-person"). But she does begin to rather enjoy the investigation process of talking to people she sometimes wouldn't talk to and going to the pub and such. Her carefully planned life is losing some of it's planned foundation.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
The Body on the Beach is the first of the Fethering mysteries by Simon Brett. It's a very light read, entertaining but not enthralling. My main problem is that I didn't like any of the characters. The main character is Carole, a boring stand-offish retiree from the Home Office, who might as well been labelled as "Librarian". Her friend is newly arrived neighbour Jude, a woman with a mysterious past - too mysterious in my view as you never learn anything about her, even when she is telling the story. All of the rest of the characters are uniformly awful in one way or another. Only once do we get a glimpse of what lies behind their facades (when the women visit the Vice Commodore at home), and I wish there had been more of this because this was the only moment in the story that felt true to life.
The setting was also very much an unrealistic Agatha Christie type of place. Fethering is an imaginary town on the South Coast of England, and if I lived in a place like that I would resort to hard drugs as well. Indeed, the drug abuse element is the only realistic part of the story, but it is an unwelcome piece of reality that sits uneasily in this odd little world.
There is a couple of chapters of the next book at the end, which sounds like more of the same. I might pick this up if there is nothing else to read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find a copy.
The setting was also very much an unrealistic Agatha Christie type of place. Fethering is an imaginary town on the South Coast of England, and if I lived in a place like that I would resort to hard drugs as well. Indeed, the drug abuse element is the only realistic part of the story, but it is an unwelcome piece of reality that sits uneasily in this odd little world.
There is a couple of chapters of the next book at the end, which sounds like more of the same. I might pick this up if there is nothing else to read, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find a copy.
The author spent too much time describing Fethering and needed to empathize on the fact, that everyone is SO uptight every five pages. The mystery was not really intriguing.
The Body on the Beach by Simon Brett
This is the first book of the Fethering Cozy Mystery series. Carole finds a body on the beach with two neck wounds. Her new neighbor Jude join forces to solve the mystery because the police seemed to dismiss the two. This series reminds me of the old British cozy mysteries the who dun-it from the past.
The ladies begin to ask questions and snoop around as they find evidence to discover who did the crime and why they did the crime. I like that Mr. Brett developed the characters and the town of fethering in this book the detail gives you the feel of everything around town which will be the backdrop to other books in the series. The two ladies seem to be opposites but it works for them they can play good cop bad cop to get the answers they seek.
I will be further reading this series and see what else the duo can do. I give this book a 3.5 stars it was a bit messy in spots but the overall story with its descriptions is worth continuing reading this cozy mystery.
If you are a lover of cozy mysteries and you like the style of the old British type cozies this series should wet your appetite and entertain you enough to read the series.
This is the first book of the Fethering Cozy Mystery series. Carole finds a body on the beach with two neck wounds. Her new neighbor Jude join forces to solve the mystery because the police seemed to dismiss the two. This series reminds me of the old British cozy mysteries the who dun-it from the past.
The ladies begin to ask questions and snoop around as they find evidence to discover who did the crime and why they did the crime. I like that Mr. Brett developed the characters and the town of fethering in this book the detail gives you the feel of everything around town which will be the backdrop to other books in the series. The two ladies seem to be opposites but it works for them they can play good cop bad cop to get the answers they seek.
I will be further reading this series and see what else the duo can do. I give this book a 3.5 stars it was a bit messy in spots but the overall story with its descriptions is worth continuing reading this cozy mystery.
If you are a lover of cozy mysteries and you like the style of the old British type cozies this series should wet your appetite and entertain you enough to read the series.
Fun Murder mystery set in a south coast town filled with rivalries and hidden secrets. I enjoyed it a lot. This is the first in the series and was recommended to me as a potential if you like, then… for the Thursday murder club and it does have similarities.