Simon Brett

Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in several embarrassing confrontations. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. The police seem happy to accept that it was suicide, but Fethering residents Carole and Jude remain unconvinced . ....

TV producer Laura Fisher sets out to have a baby before her 30th birthday. But on the day of her son's birth, she discovers something about her child's father that shocks her to the core. Twenty years later, Laura's past begins to close in on her and she is forced to face up to a legacy of murder.

Simon Brett is the winner of The CWA Diamond Dagger 2014.

It's that glorious period between the two world wars, and the exiled king of Mitteleuropa is visiting the ancestral home of the Duke of Tawcester. When the ex-king's daughter is kidnapped, noblesse obliges the Duke's handsome, brave, and rather stupid son (known to all as Blotto) to drive off to the rescue. Luckily, he's aided by his brilliant sister, Twinks. Plus, he's got a really swell car.

Carole Seddon and her bohemian neighbor Jude find that even the cultured can be crass when it comes to murder.

The life of Esmond Chadleigh, noted poet and children's author, is celebrated in the halls of Bracketts House. Nevertheless, most of Chadleigh's work remains out of print, which leaves Bracketts House out of funds. An American literature professor with a big interest in Chadleigh can keep Bracketts running, in exchange for assistance

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Ellen Curtis is about to have her own life thrown into chaos in this third light-hearted decluttering mystery! Declutterer Ellen Curtis has been working to bring order into the life of Cedric Waites, a recluse in his eighties who hasn't left his house or let anyone inside it since his wife died. On one of her regular visits, Ellen finds the old man dead. Sad but, given his age, perhaps not unexpected. Nothing to get worked up about... until the police...

Jude's decision to redecorate her cottage leads to a meeting with a local decorator and a surprising discovery behind a wall panel in a Victorian building: a woman's handbag! The discovery becomes serious when the police identify the handbag's owner as Anita Garner, a young woman who vanished in suspicious circumstances twenty years earlier.

Construction on Mrs Pargeter's new country home comes to an abrupt halt when a corpse is discovered in the wine cellar. The accused is Concrete Jacket, the builder and great friend of Mrs P's late, lamented husband. Mrs P is not about to let prison come between her and her dream home. Concrete may be a scoundrel but he's no killer. Someone has set him up – but who? Mrs Pargeter determines to find out.

A trip to Corfu is not Mrs Pargeter's usual idea of a holiday, but keeping a recently widowed friend company overrules her misgivings. When that friend starts behaving strangely and then is found having apparently committed suicide, Mrs Pargeter resolves to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The Hopwicke Country House Hotel once boasted a clientele of the rich and famous. But desperate times call for desperate measures, so owner Suzy Longthorne throws open her doors to welcome the Pillars of Sussex, an elitist group of local businessmen whose social gatherings revolve around drinking and off-color commentary. Short staffed, Suzy recruits Jude Seddon as a waitress to help keep the spirits flowing. But the next morning, Jude discovers

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Very little disturbs the ordered calm of Fethering, a self-contained retirement settlement on England's southern coast. Which is precisely why Carole Seddon has chosen to reside there. The last thing Carole expects to encounter in Fethering is a new neighbor with but one name and an obviously colourful past. 'Jude' was not really Fethering ... but neither was the body Carole found on the beach. A body, it has to be said, that has disappeared by the...