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Rating: 
Summary: classical British style cozy
Review: Although Carole and Jude are both in their fifties, single and live right next door to each other in the West Sussex Coastal town of Fethering, they are total opposites. Jude is a free-spirited extrovert with an easygoing personality while Carole is conservative, prim, and down in the dumps because a relationship didn't work out.Jude attends a small dinner party in Fedborough, eight miles upriver from Fethering. The party comes to a complete halt when the torso of a human being is found. The police soon identify the body as that of Virginia Hargreaves, a woman who walked out on her husband Roddy three years ago. Thinking that a murder investigation will lift her neighbor's spirit, Jude involves Carole in an investigation that puts them in danger from a person who needs certain secrets to stay buried. The latest Fethering mystery is an amusing tale where the town takes on a life of its own and is perceived as a separate character. The two female amateur sleuths complement each other and make a believable investigative team. Simon Brett has written a classic British style cozy that rivals the best of Agatha Christie. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Great "cosy"
Review: As an example of a small-scale British mystery, a "cosy," this and the others in this new series are first rate. I thoroughly enjoyed them all and recommend all of them.
Rating:
Summary: Great "cosy"
Review: As an example of a small-scale British mystery, a "cosy," this and the others in this new series are first rate. I thoroughly enjoyed them all and recommend all of them.
Rating:
Summary: I did enjoy this book, but......
Review: I haven't read a book by Simon Brett that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed and I have read 29 of them. This new series is a refreshing change from Mrs. Pargetar and Charles Paris, although I still like the Paris books the best. That said, I have just one minor complaint. Mr. Brett uses a word not often heard, at least in the U.S. After the third time I started counting how often "punctilious" was used. Eight times in a book just 340 pages long is a git much. I wish he could have used conscientious, careful, scrupulous, precise or nice once in a while. That said - I still enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: The Fethering mysteries continue
Review: In this third of the Fethering mysteries, Jude, is present when a mummified torso is found in the basement of a friends house. The arms and legs and clothing are missing. In an effort to help the 14 year old boy who found the body, Jude agrees to investigate the mystery. Carole has retreated into a shell after breaking off her relationship with Ted Crisp, and Jude sees the investigation as a way to open her up again. They find a town divided between the "chubs" or locals and the incomers who think they know all there is to know about the town. The body turns out to be the missing wife of a failed businessman of the area, and of course, he is the prime suspect. Soon after he turns up dead and the mystery deepens. The danger also increases for Jude and Carole, and they must find the murderer before he or she finds them. This is a very good series. The retired civil servant and the new age healer make a very good team. The author has depicted the atmosphere of a small town invaded by tourists and retirees admirably and the mystery is very good.
Rating: 
Summary: the best of the series, so far...
Review: Of the three Feathering mysteries so far, I liked "The Torso in the Town" best. And not because the mystery at hand was a more complex or intriguing one that had me breathlessly turning the pages until I reached the denouncement at the end of the book, but rather because of the three, this was the one in which we get to really appreciate the differing personalities of Carole Seldon and Jude, as well as to appreciate the friendship that has sprung up between them. Carole Seldon is suffering from the after effects of the end of her love affair with pub owner, Ted Crisp, and she's depressed. And she's also begun to slide back to her former reclusive and reserved ways; enough so that her friend and neighbour, Jude, is quite concerned about her. So that when at a dinner party at Pelling House (in Fedborough, a neighbouring town to Feathering), the discovery of a mummified torso is made in the basement of the house, Jude naturally feels that the solving of this latest mystery is exactly what Carole needs in order to work her way out of her depression. Trying to figure the identity of the torso, when the body was secreted in the basement, and who the possible murderer could be is a sure fire way to get anyone out of the doldrums. And thanks to Jude's relationship with the current owners of Pelling House, and Carole's tenuous one with one of the previous owners, the pair are sure that they will make some headway in figuring out who killed whom and why... "The Torso in the Town" proved to be a really enjoyable read. The joy to be gleaned from this novel, however, was not from the mystery at hand. On the whole, the mystery took quite a while to unfold, and Jude and Carole did spend a lot of time circling around the same few points over and over again. No, the joy to be gleaned form this novel came from the manner in which Simon Brett brought the character and flavour of these two small river towns, and all the colourful characters that inhabited them to life. I especially enjoyed Brett's social commentary on the changing times and the petty preoccupations and foibles of several characters. But what I enjoyed most (and what really pulled this novel together) was watching Jude's and Carole's friendship deepen and grow stronger, and watching Carole "thaw" out of her rigid mold. For mystery buffs who enjoy samll town cozies, "The Torso in the Town" is a read that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: the best of the series, so far...
Review: Of the three Feathering mysteries so far, I liked "The Torso in the Town" best. And not because the mystery at hand was a more complex or intriguing one that had me breathlessly turning the pages until I reached the denouncement at the end of the book, but rather because of the three, this was the one in which we get to really appreciate the differing personalities of Carole Seldon and Jude, as well as to appreciate the friendship that has sprung up between them. Carole Seldon is suffering from the after effects of the end of her love affair with pub owner, Ted Crisp, and she's depressed. And she's also begun to slide back to her former reclusive and reserved ways; enough so that her friend and neighbour, Jude, is quite concerned about her. So that when at a dinner party at Pelling House (in Fedborough, a neighbouring town to Feathering), the discovery of a mummified torso is made in the basement of the house, Jude naturally feels that the solving of this latest mystery is exactly what Carole needs in order to work her way out of her depression. Trying to figure the identity of the torso, when the body was secreted in the basement, and who the possible murderer could be is a sure fire way to get anyone out of the doldrums. And thanks to Jude's relationship with the current owners of Pelling House, and Carole's tenuous one with one of the previous owners, the pair are sure that they will make some headway in figuring out who killed whom and why... "The Torso in the Town" proved to be a really enjoyable read. The joy to be gleaned from this novel, however, was not from the mystery at hand. On the whole, the mystery took quite a while to unfold, and Jude and Carole did spend a lot of time circling around the same few points over and over again. No, the joy to be gleaned form this novel came from the manner in which Simon Brett brought the character and flavour of these two small river towns, and all the colourful characters that inhabited them to life. I especially enjoyed Brett's social commentary on the changing times and the petty preoccupations and foibles of several characters. But what I enjoyed most (and what really pulled this novel together) was watching Jude's and Carole's friendship deepen and grow stronger, and watching Carole "thaw" out of her rigid mold. For mystery buffs who enjoy samll town cozies, "The Torso in the Town" is a read that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: A complicated search for the killer
Review: Simon Brett's novel, Torso In The Town tells of a historic village, newcomers, and a mummified torso which turns the party into a morgue. The mystery involves all in a complicated search for the killer.
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