A Series of Murders

Charles Paris #13

by Simon Brett

When a murder occurs on the set of his new police television series, Charles Paris, actor and amateur detective, is determined to find the killer

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Crime, Detective, British Literature, Fiction, Murder Mystery

214 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Simon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.

He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.

He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.

After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.

He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been trying to work through the dusty end of my bookshelf this year and have been enjoying reconnecting with some old favorites. A Series of Murders is the 13th book in the Charles Paris mystery series by English author Simon Brett. For those who might not have tried this series of 20 books, Charles Paris is a jobbing actor with a 'troubled' marriage and a bit of a drinking problem who finds himself involved in murder mysteries on the various acting jobs that he manages to find.

In A Series of Murders, Charles has managed to get a steady part on a new TV series being produced by W.E.T productions. The series is a mystery series based on a number of books by a lady author from the 50's, W.T. Wintergreen, a sort of Agatha Christie styled author. The series follows private detective Stanislas Braid (think of Hercule Poirot or Peter Wimsey) as he solves various crimes. Charles plays a police Sgt whose basic job is to be Braid's foil in the series. The book opens as they film the first book.

There is lots of friction on the set. The main actor, playing Stanislas Braid, doesn't like that it's not modern enoughy. The author and her sister, two elderly maidens, aren't happy with the language, the actress playing Braid's daughter (in fact most of the crew hate her because she's a crap actress and seems to have got the job, maybe by sleeping with the director) and so on.. .Lots of arguments about the set, about the script, etc. Most people are upset with the casting of Sippy Stokes and fairly quickly she is found dead, under a pile of props in the storage room.

This is fairly quickly brushed off as an accident and the filming progresses. Charles Paris sort of doubts that it was an accident and throughout the book, haphazardly investigates and 'interrogates' the other cast members. The book continues with the filming of the 2nd episode and then they move along to the west coast of England for the 3rd episode. There might be other 'accidents'. Charles continues to appeal to his ex-wife Frances to get back together, although, rightfully so, she's suspicious. She knows what he's like and actually we've got a pretty good idea as well, from the previous books.

Charles loves his ex-wife but he's also used to being a rambler, moving from job to job, minor role to minor role and even likes living in his one room grubby apartment as he doesn't want to be tied down. He may promise to Frances that he will stop drinking but we know he won't. He may promise to be faithful, but we know he probably won't. That's Charles...

As always, it's neat seeing the workings of the film / TV / acting industry, even down to Charles' generally useless agent. And the mystery is always interesting, sometimes just a side issue but it will be resolved satisfactorily and in this particular book, with a neat little surprise at the end. Brett is an entertaining story teller, no matter what series you try out; Charles Paris, Mrs. Pargeter or Fethering... Check him out. (3.5 stars)

[Rex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Brett's alcoholic burnt out actor detective.

[Vivien · Rating 2 out of 5]

The main character was revolting - not a lovable rogue, just an arse.
The story line was pretty rubbish, the best thing you could say about it was it was short.
Another audio book.

[Glenn Hopp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles Paris is a character of many weaknesses, so the ass-aching Puritans (as Maggie calls Brick) at Goodreads predictably take pleasure in lambasting him. Good thing the parables of Jesus aren’t up for scrutiny here (The Prodigal Son: “All that family bickering: Ick!”). There are many reasons to enjoy the wonderful crime novels of Simon Brett, but satisfying a search for role models probably isn’t one of them. The books have inside knowledge (and stinging satire) about the world of British theater, they are deft at presenting crime and detection, the writing is concise, the pacing is sure, and the wit makes them wryly amusing. In this story, the picture of the vain television star Russell Bentley (so much bossiness, so little talent) and the dotty mystery novelist Winifred Railton (are her books classics or just old and forgotten?) are comic high points.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually out of work actor Charles Paris has landed a plum role in an English mystery series but when another actor is found dead on the first day of filming he can't help but try to find out what really happened. The author has worked on many radio and TV productions so everything seemed pretty authentic and Charles is a winning leading man on the page.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

As usual, we get Charles Paris in the middle of a murder. Unusually, he actually has a fairly important role in a new TV show about a private detective called Stanislas Braid (based off books written decades before). West End TV believe it will be as successful as Miss Marple but the casting is terrible and the weather is terrible and the writer, WT Wintergreen (nee Winifred Railton) can't stop herself from interfering. I always enjoy the behind-the-scenes of the workings of (in this case) a television production and this set of murders is almost secondary to the antics of the cast and crew. (I really enjoyed an early scene with the actual policemen and the actor policemen - how the actors thought the real ones look "so out of place")

In the end, two people from the cast/crew are murdered- Sippy Stokes the actor because she's terrible in the role of Christina, and Tony Rees, the assistant set manager, because he tries to blackmail the writer and her sister for seeing Louisa kill Sippy. Turns out one sister is mentally ill from being abused as a child by her now-dead father and the older sister (and actual writer) has been protecting her for years. In the end, Louisa is killed by Winifred and Winifred turns herself in and dies in jail. (The book makes it look like Winifred is guilty at first but she's only covering for her younger sister.) Charles keeps trying to make up with Frances but he also never calls her and can't stop himself from thinking about the next time he can enjoy a large Bell's.

[Gina Guesby Mays · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had chosen this Audiobook as a filler before my series of audiobooks were available (I'm into the Coffeehouse Mysteries) and I was pleasantly surprised to check this one out from the library. Charles is an actor, trying to make it in the UK, and with the luck of his agent he's been hired to be a detective in a tv series. The twist is - he has to be a real detective in real life on the set. A woman ends up dead. A man ends up dead. Who's next? The police are baffled and the director is pulling his hair out on all ends. But really, most discussions for our lead detective take place in a pub. This audiobook has taught me a pub is the best place to talk about a murder. And interestingly enough, our lead actor confides in his ex-wife, Frances, about everything going on. She's a good listener but is hesitant about getting back together with him romantically. Will she? Won't she? And will the killer on the set put our lead actor in the hospital before it's all over? I love the different voices as I've always loved radio dramas. I didn't realize there are 20 stories so I'll have to find the rest of them.

[Sobriquet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio-book read by the author, which runs at five hours ten minutes, whereas I think many other listeners listened to the radio play adapted for Radio 4, which is about an hour long. I would recommend the unabridged book as I think reducing it to a play would make the character of Charles Paris, and the other actors seem too harsh and unsympathetic. The actors are unsympathetic, and self absorbed and so on but that means that I'm quite happy for one of them to get bumped off. I don't like the idea of a Charles Paris with Bill Nighy's voice, it'd put me off the character somehow- too patrician and satisfied (I'm going off my memory of Love Actually). So my review is of the audio book as read by Simon Brett, which I enjoyed. I like his Charles Paris; alcoholic and hopeless as he is.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
" A confusion of constables. "
Unusually, Charles Paris the almost perpetually out of work actor, has a job. In fact, he had a three month television contract playing a police sergeant in a series of six cosy mysteries. And his crime investigations continue off stage after the female lead is found dead, believed to be an accident by everyone but Charles. And, once again, the philandering, hard drinking actor dreams of reconciling with Francis, his wife.

Narrated by the author, this is another easy read, fun book by situation comedy writer, Simon Brett.
I loved it.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles has finally got a good job: he's been cast as the plodding police man in a new murder mystery drama. Yes he's constantly being outwitted by the upper class private detective, but the pay is good and its for a whole series - with an option on a second series! Then Charles finds a body on set and he starts to worry that it wasn't an accident after all.

This is another excellent installment in the series - although you do want Charles to get his act together a bit and keep it together enough to get Frances a bit back on side...

[margaret chalmers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copper the lot.

Charles has a job. Hooray! On tv in a series featuring a vintage gentleman detective. No, that's not Charles. He is the dim or dumber local rural policeman. And there's a murder, then another and...oh, well, the usual. The Bell's are ringing, in sympathy of course. Super fun, a wee bit of sadness, but nobody dies. Oh, wait a moment they do. Oh, well, death happens. Wickedly funny. I am hooked again. Such a guilty pleasure. Roll on the next one. Recommended? Er, yes, if drunken small part actors are your thing, and they are definitely my thing.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I predicted the murderer, but not other details revealed at the end. Not the most complicated of the Charles Paris novels, but good supporting characters.

I hope I’m not the only one cheering for Charles to FINALLY find some acting success! The poor guy. He tries so much. Although, I do love the hilarious regular insertions of his bad reviews in every book. Maybe in the series finale Brett will finally get Charles to do his Lear at the National Theatre. Dare to dream...

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and one half stars rounded up to four- an enjoyable read- Charles Paris is a likable man- he drinks too much, has questionable morals, seems to be a good actor with difficulties in consistent roles but he also likes solving mysteries. I enjoyed the TV series setting and enjoyed the characters. This is #13 of the series and I just ordered #14. These are enjoyable fiction to have on hand for relaxation.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun, wonderfully read by the author. An excellent afternoon's entertainment.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great Simon Brett murder

[Nancy Nash Keefer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I think it’s just that I’m not fond of the alcoholic sleazebag who is the “hero.”

[Shiraz Esat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice short mystery. Heard this as a BBC radio play, starring Bill Nigh. Good stuff

[Rolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has the same charms as earlier entries in the series, with the added plus of nostalgia for 70s detective shows (the setting of this entry).

[Alonzo Church · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Paris, the hapless mediocre actor who always stumbles on murders, is memorably portrayed on BBC radio by Bill Nighy in straight out comedies. The audiobook, read by the author, has a different vibe, that is well worth the listen.

In this one, Paris has got a role in a cozy mystery TV series where he plays the always wrong police inspector who is the foil to a Great Detective. Naturally, the cast of the series starts dropping like flies and Paris starts playing detective for real. The mood though is witty, rather than out and out comedy. The way Paris figures things out at the end is nicely done and rather melancholy.

Nicely done.

[Eyejaybee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Down at heel actor Charles Paris is surprised, and gratified, to be selected for a role in a new television detective series. He is play Sergeant Clump, a rather ponderous country policeman who acts as the slow-witted foil to Stanislas Braid, a charismatic amateur sleuth in the mould of Sherlock Holmes. It is not a taxing role, and not one that will significantly enhance Charles’s CV, but it is paid work, and likely to run for quite a while, with an initial run of six episodes.

The programmes are based on the works of W T Wintergreen, a now elderly novelist who had ceased writing several decades ago. The books are all set in that period beloved of the so-called cosy mysteries, in a rather anodyne version of the 1930. Rather than simply accepting the fee for the rights to the stories and leaving the television production company to get on with things, Miss Wintergreen and her sister regularly attend the set. Unfortunately, rather than being happy to see her characters brought to life on the screen, miss Wintergreen is appalled at how the tone of the stories is tweaked beyond recognition to accommodate the more mundane tastes of a contemporary television audience. There are significant tensions in the cast, too. The star of the show is Russell Bentley, a man with a vastly inflated sense of his own abilities and importance, which extends to an apparent inability to remember the names of his fellow actors.

All too soon a real murder occurs, with the actor playing Christina, Stanislas Braid’s beloved daughter, being crushed in what initially appears to be a dreadful accident on the set. As other mishaps befall the production, Charles begins to suspect foul play, and commences his own investigation.

As always in this very entertaining series, Simon Brett deftly mixes humour with a robust and plausible plot, while also taking the opportunity to demonstrate much of the fatuousness that underlies a lot of commercial television programming. Charles is an endearing character – far from perfect, he is a heavy drinker and incurable philanderer, although his crushing self-awareness of these faults renders him very empathetic.

[Lynn Pribus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good old Charles Paris. Picked this aging paperback up from the swap table at the gym. I probably read it before, but still a pleasant, breezy read. Hadn't realized "twee" dated back to 1989. This was in the pre-cell-phone days of perforated-edge computer paper.

Brett also writes for TV and in this book Charles is a continuing character in a TV series of at least 6 episodes -- the best employment he's ever had as an actor. (In one of the first Charles Paris books I ever read, he as a bit part as a corpse that fell out of a closet in Act I. Not exactly a sinecure!)

There is a real ring of behind-the-scenes TV studio authenticity. Fun read.

[Karen Barth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, but delightful "cozy" mystery involving a usually unemployed alcoholic actor who fancies himself an amateur sleuth. The writing is good and elicits quite a few laughs along the way. In this story, the main character, Charles Paris, is gainfully employed as a regular character actor in a TV production of a 1930's murder mystery. When real murders start to pile up, Charles begins his sleuthing. The ending was a surprise, but entirely plausible. This was my first Simon Brett novel and it was very enjoyable.

[Curtiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the paperback edition, NOT the audio-book version.

A fairly good mystery with a protagonist whose faults are as obvious to himself as to others, which add to the hurdles he must overcome to solve the mystery of the series of behind-the-scenes deaths of members of the cast and crew of a new Television mystery series (hence the emphasis on "Series" in the title).

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay little story. The characters were sort of interesting and occasionally amusing. The mystery was pretty good, although I don't think it was possible to solve it from the information
available. There was a little twist at the end. All-in-all, there was nothing wrong with the book but there was nothing compelling about it either.

[Brian G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another top notch mystery from Brett.
Charles Paris is working on a murder mystery series when an unexplained death occurs. Paris uncovers the truth inbetween drinking (lots) and trying to get back in his wife's good books
Clever plot - witty dialogue
4 stars ( i guessed the murderer)

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but its a very old fashioned mystery. Recommended!

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read, the books read much like the BBC radio 4 series. Very enjoyable.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

another fun Charles Paris mystery

[Dennis Weinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read

Charles is always good to read,I wonder if he'd be better off giving up the acting and sticking to what he does best,solving murder mysteries.