Death on the Downs

It would be a mistake to read this book without first reading The Body on the Beach in which amateur detectives and neighbors Carole Seddon and Jude (no last name) meet one another. If opposites attract, these two fiftyish women make that point. Carole is a retired Home Office bureaucrat who likes things tidy and prefers her distance from people. Jude is friendly, messy, and plunges right in. That contrast was well established in The Body on the Beach. In Death on The Downs, the two characters begin to develop other facets. But if you haven't read the first book, you'll miss the relevance of much of that character development. Carole Seddon once again stumbles on evidence of foul play when she uncovers a human skeleton while seeking shelter from the rain in an old barn. The local police are very sympathetic and even offer her counseling. Carole learns that there's been a young woman missing for four months. Could that be the victim? When Carole shares her experiences and theory with Jude, Jude is floored. She knows the missing woman! Carole begins to exploit her developing social skills to find out more about what's going on in Weldisham, where she found the bones. Jude uses her alternative therapy contacts (and a little blackmail) to check out other lines of inquiry. Carole knows she's on the right track when she begins to receive threats. Before the story is over, she'll pay a high price for her curiosity. Readers who enjoyed The Body on the Beach will find Death on the Downs to be an easier book to read, with more interesting action. This series is well worth reading and I hope you enjoy it!

Carole and Jude are back solving another mystery, but this time, not in their own village of Fethering. Carole finds a sack of human bones in a barn in a neighboring village, a village filled with people who are phony, deceitful, have odd family histories, and a few are just plain unfriendly. Nothing in the village is what it seems. As with most of the books in this series, the nabbing of the culprit builds to a heart pounding but satisfying climax.

I first read Brett's Charles Paris mysteries and enjoyed them, but in the Fethering series (four so far), he has outdone himself. I've bought and lent these books for and to several friends. Good stuff.

In Death on the Downs, Carole Seddon finds herself looking for a place to walk without running into too many people. Her dog Gulliver has cut his paw on a can on the beach and can't walk with her. Carole has difficulty talking to strangers and doesn't want to go to a place that has many walkers. She goes to a nearby village of Weldisham and takes a walk on the deserted downs there. It starts to rain, so she takes shelter in a dilapidated old barn. Underneath her bench she finds two bags of human bones. She calls the police and assumes that her involvement ends there. Carole keeps thinking back on the mystery, however and the people of the small village. With the help of her friend Jude. They solve the mystery together.This is a rather dark mystery. There are no characters that the reader automatically roots for. Even the protagonist Carole Seddon is a quiet, withdrawn and not altogether sympathetic character. The mystery is very good, with lots of twists and turns, and although I suspected the murderer, I wasn't sure until the end. This is a very good series.

With her friend Jude away for an indefinite time and her dog with an injured foot, divorcee Carole Seddon forgoes her usual walk on the Feathering beach. Instead, she drives to the West Sussex town of Weldisham to walk on the Downs for her morning constitution. Just as she's about to head back to the car, it starts pouring and she takes refuge in an abandoned barn. While waiting for the rain to abate, Carole, sitting on some wooden planks, slips, jarring her seat into revealing fertilizer bags filled with human bones. She calls the police who realize they have a criminal case on their hands. Much to Carole's surprise she wants to find the identity of the remains and how they got in the barn. When Jude returns, she's as eager as Carole is to solve the case. The two friends, in their own way, begin to investigate. Carole and Jude are as different as two people can be yet their friendship is so real and dynamic it is electrifying. Their thought processes are very different yet they always end up agreeing with one another on a point of contention. The atmosphere of an English village gives DEATH ON THE DOWNS a delightful ambiance that the armchair traveler will enjoy.Harriet Klausner