Simon Brett has been a mainstay of English crime fiction for nearly 50 years. His first book was issued in 1975. Since then he published some 70 volumes and has written for radio and television. He received the Diamond Dagger Award from The Crime Writers’ Association in 2014 and the Order of the British Empire in 2016 for significant contributions to literature.
In addition to a handful of stand-alone books, Brett created five distinct series protagonists. Bright Young Things Blotto, the Honourable Devereux Lyminster, and his sister Twinks, in the 1920s; retiree Carole Seddon, who finds her choice of a retirement village has far more crime than she expected; Melita Pargeter, who relocates to a seaside hotel after her husband’s death; and Charles Paris, an actor who drinks a little more than he should. His newest character, introduced in 2020, is Ellen Curtis, a professional organizer and decluttering expert.
While I especially like actor Charles Parris, visiting widowed Melita Pargeter is an amusing way to spend a few hours. The late Mr. Pargeter was a successful thief, although his criminal activities are only indirectly mentioned. He left his wife well off and able to enjoy life as she chooses. In Mrs. Pargeter’s Package (Macmillan, 1990) she agrees to accompany recently widowed friend Joyce Dover on a trip to the island of Corfu.
Brett clearly did his research; Corfu sounds like a lovely place to vacation. While the sun and local amenities are appealing, the other travelers on the package tour are not. Brett’s descriptions of their antics are entertaining and suspiciously true to life.
Joyce is increasingly despondent and when she is found dead on their second day on the island, no one is very surprised. Mrs. Pargeter however feels there are unanswered questions about the supposed suicide, and she resists the attempts of the tourist guide and the local police to close the books on the life of her friend.
Mrs. Pargeter enlists some of her husband’s confederates in her investigation. They are hilarious, especially the one who runs a travel agency catering to crooks. On a fast fact-finding trip to London, Mrs. Pargeter visits the corporate office in Berkeley Square, where she overhears bits of the travel agents’ conversations, assuring one customer that ammunition can be delivered via room service and another that the Jacuzzis are bullet-proof.
The actual resolution to the mystery hinges on multiple plot devices that are so old, so shopworn, that even a mediocre author would hesitate to use one, much less three. I have to wonder if Brett was challenging himself to dress them up enough to create a fresh story. He largely succeeds, polishing them up, adding a family curse, and turning a twist back on itself to make another twist.
Well worth reading for the witty writing, the sly dialogue, the imaginative characters, and to see how a master re-uses plot elements.