The Body on the Beach

Simon Brett never disappoints me. His plots are always well thought out and his characters true to their personalities. I have read many of the Fethering books and have just now read "The Body on the Beach, the first of the series. I can hardly wait to fill in with the two or three I've missed.

The Body on the Beach is a wonderful story about the relationship of two women who are drawn together by murder and intrigue in a seaside village in England. Carol a lonely divorcee and Jude the free spirit are total opposites, but they bond as the story evolves and the mystery is solved. The description of Feathering allows your imagination to wonder and wish you could travel to this far off place. It is a page turner. Not for the reader who wants adventure and murderous rage. This is a book for the reader who loves cozy mysteries. It's defintely the book to read on a cold winters day with a hot mug of cocoa.

The story is interesting and not overly complicated. I particularly like his writing style: very simple but yet exceedingly accurate in describing personalities and feelings. I think he is a master of word arrangement, just like Ann Granger and Paula Gosling.

This is the first of two vols in Brett's latest series. It is a typical(?) Briddish mystery, with much toing and froing. The main character may seem a bit dry, but by the end of the story she has loosened up quite a bit. Such as going to a pub! I expect that there will be an expansion of her character with perhaps a bit of, dare I say it, romance? Anyhoo, Brett is off to a good start with this one and the second book is on the shelves. Treat yourself to seaside England....tides, rain and some snooty people doing their thing. Enjoy, and aloha...

I quite enjoyed this series debut, set in Feathering, a small English village. A prim woman finds a (you guessed it) body on the beach. It's gone by the time the police arrive and they think she made a mistake (it doesn't help that the woman washes her dog and then her kitchen before phoning them). Her new "Bohemian" neighbor believes her story and suggests they investigate what may have happened. A well-plotted, witty book, with memorable characters. The relationship between the reserved narrator and her outgoing new neighbor is well-depicted and it should be interesting to see how their relationship develops as the series progresses.