Murder in the Museum: 5

Ah, those quirky people of Fethering... Carole and Jude are back and solving another mystery together. Carole still doesn't think of herself has a "pub person" and Jude still doesn't share her life details. Carole is still annoyed by that, and Jude is still amused by Carole's annoyance. (You have to read the series to understand the friendship between these two women) The mystery was interesting and reached a pretty good climax. Another winner from Simon Brett.

I really enjoy this series of mysteries by Simon Brett, featuring two very different women who constantly encounter dead bodies as they go about their daily lives! They team up to solve the mysterious deaths. Simon Brett gives a very tongue in cheek satiric presentation of middle class English life, that is for the most part applicable to Americans, as well. His depictions of committees, boards, clubs, etc., and the types of people who populate these organizations, are dead on. The mysteries are interesting, and the character studies even more so.

Simon Brett is the author of the Charles Paris series, the Mrs. Pargeter series and the Fethering mysteries. This is the fourth Fethering mystery that features Home Office retiree Carole Seddon. Fethering is a West Sussex seaside village. Most villages are quaint and quiet without much going on there. Fethering seems to get more than its share of murder. This time the action revolves around Brackett House which is the historical home of writer and poet Edmond Chadleigh. Carole has taken on the role of a trustee for Brackett House (the museum in the title). Tensions are high while trustees decide how to bring in some money to keep the museum afloat and also what to do about a proposed biography of Edmond Chadleigh. Before long a 90 year old skeleton is found in the garden, and shortly thereafter a murder takes place.The Fethering series are very traditional cozy mysteries. Simon Brett has written a conventional, but entertaining whodunit. Broadly drawn quirky characters abound. It reminded me very much of the Agatha Christie Miss Marple books. Readers who want a light, witty, traditional mystery won?t go wrong with this one.

This is a classic English country house whodunnit. In this case it's a country house owned by the family of an English poet and a house that will soon be expanded into a museum. Except that a body is unearthed on the potential site of the new building. Not to worry - the body's been there almost a century, but of course its discovery is followed by other, highly contemporary murders.Into this blend of family secrets, academic jealousies and the out-and-out bitchiness of the board of trustees there is woven a central plot that reflects the history of the house and a number of sub-plots that are purely contemporary and carry the story forward at a cracking pace.But it is the strongly drawn characters that make this mystery a winner. All the characters are three dimensional and true to life, especially the women who are prominent in the story. (I couldn't believe the writer was male until I saw his photo on the back jacket.) The female characters, especially Carole the sleuth-in-chief, appear real right down to the working of their minds and the emotional spin they give to seemingly unimportant events. Linked to that the dialogue is sharp and edgy and the personal interactions are articulate and witty.From the first dreadful meeting of the museum trustees to the climax where the final victim has a crumb of ginger cake at the corner of his mouth the characters in this story will carry you delightfully along.

After a successful career in the Home Office, Carole Seddon retires to the seashore resort town of Fethering in West Sussex where she becomes friends with Jude, her next door neighbor. They partner up solving several local homicides. Carole has recently taken a volunteer position of trustee at Bracketts House, the home where the famous Catholic writer Esmond Chadleigh once lives. The property was turned into a heritage house and is in need of outside funding to keep on operating.In the kitchen garden, a skeleton is found that dates back over seventy years. The find horrifies many of the trustees who don't want the author's named sullied. When Carole and Sheila Cartwright, the unofficial head of Bracketts House, are walking toward their cars after a trustee meeting, a shot rings out killing Sheila instantly. Carole believes there is a connection between the bodies found in the kitchen garden and Sheila's death and she is determined to find the common link knowing she may already be in danger.Although Jude isn't working the investigation as much as usual because she is nursing a very sick friend, Carole picks up the slack and for once is not overshadowed by her best friend. She proves she can investigate a murder on her own and is able to subtly put the pieces together to figure out why the homicide occurred in the first place. Carole ferrets out the secrets and scandals of Bracketts house, which makes the heritage home more appealing to visitors and readers.Harriet Klausner