Blood at the Bookies

A welcome arrival on the doormat was Simon Brett’s ninth Fethering Mystery, Blood at the Bookies. Brett is an expert practitioner of the light traditional mystery, often with a liberal helping of humour. He began with the Charles Paris books, featuring an actor with a taste for whisky and amateur detection. These are great fun, with plenty of well-targeted jokes. Later, he created Mrs Pargeter, widow of a career criminal, and now the Fethering books have earned a loyal following.

But he’s done much more even than that. A Shock to the System was a stand-alone novel that was filmed. Dead Romantic was, I thought, even better, possibly the best Brett that I have read. It’s not a very well known book, but it’s very clever and I do recommend it.

And then there are his short stories. I was delighted to include one in a CWA anthology some years back, and he has produced two first rate collections, A Box of Tricks, and Crime Writers and Other Animals. Sometimes I think Brett’s crime-writing talents may actually be seen to best effect in the short form, which perfectly suits the ingenuity of his ideas and his sharp, snappy dialogue and ability to sketch character with economy and precision.

Among his other achievements are work for radio and television, most notably the popular series ‘After Henry’. I can testify that he is a very witty public speaker, and he also manages to find time to act as President of the Detection Club. In short, Simon Brett is a consummate entertainer.