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Fethering #3
The Torso in the Town
A dinner party at an English mansion with some stuffy, not-very-close friends is not exactly Jude's cup of tea--but the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is right up her alley. There is no way of knowing how long the dead body has been there, or even who it once was. Intrigued by this new mystery, Jude elicits the help of her reluctant neighbor, Carole, to help solve the case. And perhaps in the process she can snap Carole out of her growing depression, the result of a recently failed relationship. Their detective work soon uncovers that Pelling House's previous owners include two divorced couples who harbor a lot of resentment--and Jude and Carole suspect that they may be harboring some dark secrets as well. Once again, the two middle-aged women from Fethering find themselves embroiled in a puzzling whodunit.
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First published January 1, 2002
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About the author
Simon Brett
329 books532 followersSimon 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 183 reviews
May 31, 2011
So I waded through the first several pages of exposition, I endured the frustrating head-hopping, I gritted my teeth throughout the clumsy dialogue and why? Certainly not for the ending. It was about as limp and lifeless as the haddock I would like to slap Simon Brett with.
No offence intended to Mr. Brett of course. He set out to write a nice cosy mystery and he certainly achieved that, but I just had so many problems with his writing style that I couldn't enjoy it properly.
It's mentioned in the blurb that "they [Carole and Jude] can't help but wonder why a town... is proving so terribly amenable to their enquiries" and this is picked up on several times in the course of the novel, yet I can't help but see this as a heavy-handed attempt by Brett to explain away the fact that anyone would even entertain the thought of these two busy-body old women sticking their noses into their private lives. The two main characters Jude and Carole are not employed by the police, nor are they private investigators, they are just nosy. Someone has died and all they can see it as is a fun chance to play detective. And I'm meant to empathise with these dreadful ghouls? They spend the whole novel harping on obsessively about the torso that is found at the beginning of the novel, yet all the characters act as if this is perfectly acceptable behaviour. Slap them with a wet haddock, says I.
Another thing that annoyed me was that although in his narrative, Brett skipped happily from head to head without a word of warning, he seemed strangely timid to do so in dialogue. It's natural for people to infer from someone else's behaviour and words what they're feeling etc., but in this he would often have someone - usually Carole or Jude - say something along the lines of 'I can't help but notice from the way you ripped that gentleman's throat out with your teeth, you don't really like him'. Okay, so I exaggerate. No one's throat got ripped out by anyone's teeth. I don't get though, why they had to signpost their inferences like that in dialogue. Especially when he didn't bother to do so in his narrative, instead preferring to change the point-of-view from one paragraph to the next.
I would also like to pick up on Brett's use of homosexual characters. About halfway through the book, we are introduced to Terry and Andrew - a gay couple. Later on, Andrew mentions that they are only invited to various dinner parties because they are seen as nothing more than performing animals. I was left with the distinct feeling that this was all the characters were to Brett as well. A kind of 'look at liberal ol' me, I have some gay characters! Marvel at my broad-mindedness!'
So in the future, when I next find myself craving a cosy bit of crime solving, I will turn back to Agatha Christie and apologise profusely from ever tuning away from her in the first place.
No offence intended to Mr. Brett of course. He set out to write a nice cosy mystery and he certainly achieved that, but I just had so many problems with his writing style that I couldn't enjoy it properly.
It's mentioned in the blurb that "they [Carole and Jude] can't help but wonder why a town... is proving so terribly amenable to their enquiries" and this is picked up on several times in the course of the novel, yet I can't help but see this as a heavy-handed attempt by Brett to explain away the fact that anyone would even entertain the thought of these two busy-body old women sticking their noses into their private lives. The two main characters Jude and Carole are not employed by the police, nor are they private investigators, they are just nosy. Someone has died and all they can see it as is a fun chance to play detective. And I'm meant to empathise with these dreadful ghouls? They spend the whole novel harping on obsessively about the torso that is found at the beginning of the novel, yet all the characters act as if this is perfectly acceptable behaviour. Slap them with a wet haddock, says I.
Another thing that annoyed me was that although in his narrative, Brett skipped happily from head to head without a word of warning, he seemed strangely timid to do so in dialogue. It's natural for people to infer from someone else's behaviour and words what they're feeling etc., but in this he would often have someone - usually Carole or Jude - say something along the lines of 'I can't help but notice from the way you ripped that gentleman's throat out with your teeth, you don't really like him'. Okay, so I exaggerate. No one's throat got ripped out by anyone's teeth. I don't get though, why they had to signpost their inferences like that in dialogue. Especially when he didn't bother to do so in his narrative, instead preferring to change the point-of-view from one paragraph to the next.
I would also like to pick up on Brett's use of homosexual characters. About halfway through the book, we are introduced to Terry and Andrew - a gay couple. Later on, Andrew mentions that they are only invited to various dinner parties because they are seen as nothing more than performing animals. I was left with the distinct feeling that this was all the characters were to Brett as well. A kind of 'look at liberal ol' me, I have some gay characters! Marvel at my broad-mindedness!'
So in the future, when I next find myself craving a cosy bit of crime solving, I will turn back to Agatha Christie and apologise profusely from ever tuning away from her in the first place.
May 17, 2022
3.5 stars actually, rounded up because I enjoy the unusual relationship between Jude (still no surname disclosed!) and Carole Seddon. I noticed some similarity between this and the previous book, although set in different towns and sets of suspects. I had almost figured out the ending, but it did have quite a few twists and turns! I look forward to book 4 and hope the series doesn't degenerate into a formulaic pattern.
January 30, 2016
I don’t think I am going to read this to the end. I can suspend my disbelief… up to a point!
Can anyone imagine the torso of a woman being in the basement or the cellar of a house that has just been sold and bought, and suddenly being discovered as someone goes down to the cellar?
Can you believe that a corpse, whether or not, parts of it have been severed can possibly not smell anything, and not be noticed by anyone for months or years?
Well, I can’t. And that is that. I liked the first two novels in the series, but this is just too much.
I am quitting
Can anyone imagine the torso of a woman being in the basement or the cellar of a house that has just been sold and bought, and suddenly being discovered as someone goes down to the cellar?
Can you believe that a corpse, whether or not, parts of it have been severed can possibly not smell anything, and not be noticed by anyone for months or years?
Well, I can’t. And that is that. I liked the first two novels in the series, but this is just too much.
I am quitting
January 13, 2021
The Torso in the Town is the 3rd book English author, Simon Brett's Fethering cozy mystery series. I've also enjoyed books in his Mrs. Pargeter and Charles Paris series. The Fethering series features two neighbors, Carole Seddon & Jude, from the south coast town of Fethering (near Brighton) who get involved solving mysteries in the surrounding communities.
Jude is invited to dinner by a couple, she met previously in Spain, living in a nearby town, Fedborough. During the dinner, the Roxby's teenage son discovers a loose panel in the cellar and behind that panel the dismembered torso of a woman's body. It appears that the body has been there for a number of years.
Carole has withdrawn from her friend and Fethering due to a failed romance with neighborhood bar owner Ted Crisp. Carole is embarrassed and can't bring herself to face Ted. Jude thinks that investigating the appearance of the body and how it ended up in the Roxby's basement might distract Carole from her issues.
So the two friends begin to spend time in Fedborough, taking part in the communities Art Festival, meeting and chatting with locals, trying to gather clues on the body and the 'murder'? It's an entertaining story and is filled with interesting characters. Jude and Carole make an excellent team and it's fun getting to know them again. I find it interesting that Carole still doesn't even know her neighbor's last name or much else about her private life. It's due to a combination of Carole's insecurities and Jude's enigmatic attitude towards providing info about her life.
It's a nice, entertaining cozy mystery with lots of clues and suspects. The process of trying to gather information is as interesting as the mystery itself. I liked discovering more about the community of Fedborough, how everyone in a small community seems to know everything about everyone else; or tries to portray that they do and also the power of the gossip chain of communication. All in all a light, entertaining mystery. (3.5 stars)
Jude is invited to dinner by a couple, she met previously in Spain, living in a nearby town, Fedborough. During the dinner, the Roxby's teenage son discovers a loose panel in the cellar and behind that panel the dismembered torso of a woman's body. It appears that the body has been there for a number of years.
Carole has withdrawn from her friend and Fethering due to a failed romance with neighborhood bar owner Ted Crisp. Carole is embarrassed and can't bring herself to face Ted. Jude thinks that investigating the appearance of the body and how it ended up in the Roxby's basement might distract Carole from her issues.
So the two friends begin to spend time in Fedborough, taking part in the communities Art Festival, meeting and chatting with locals, trying to gather clues on the body and the 'murder'? It's an entertaining story and is filled with interesting characters. Jude and Carole make an excellent team and it's fun getting to know them again. I find it interesting that Carole still doesn't even know her neighbor's last name or much else about her private life. It's due to a combination of Carole's insecurities and Jude's enigmatic attitude towards providing info about her life.
It's a nice, entertaining cozy mystery with lots of clues and suspects. The process of trying to gather information is as interesting as the mystery itself. I liked discovering more about the community of Fedborough, how everyone in a small community seems to know everything about everyone else; or tries to portray that they do and also the power of the gossip chain of communication. All in all a light, entertaining mystery. (3.5 stars)
November 27, 2017
Not particularly mysterious, but ok, not too bad for these English village murders a la MIDSOMER MURDERS. The ladies, however, ask such probing questions, even I felt an urge to snap at them, WHY are you guys so interested!? How is it any of your damn business?
Supposedly Jude is charming and gets away with it, but why does stick-up-her-bum Carole do as well?
(I listened to the audio book while on a long road trip, which helped me get through the story. Otherwise I could not have gotten past the first 5 chapters.)
Supposedly Jude is charming and gets away with it, but why does stick-up-her-bum Carole do as well?
(I listened to the audio book while on a long road trip, which helped me get through the story. Otherwise I could not have gotten past the first 5 chapters.)
August 16, 2018
This was 4 stars right up until the big giant gaping plot-hole where
August 19, 2018
This is an enjoyable murder mystery.
When a partial rotting corpse is found in a cellar of an old house in an English seaside town, naturally the police are called.
Everyone in this small town has their own idea of who the victim is and who done it.
But when the police investigation stalls two lady 'detectives' decide they can do better.
Another death, probably a suicide, seals the case for almost everyone.
This beautiful town so immaculate on the outside is totally different underneath.
Our two lady sleuths continue to break down the walls as each one looms infront of them and
as each obstacle is overcome they get nearer to the solution but possibly endanger themselves.
When a partial rotting corpse is found in a cellar of an old house in an English seaside town, naturally the police are called.
Everyone in this small town has their own idea of who the victim is and who done it.
But when the police investigation stalls two lady 'detectives' decide they can do better.
Another death, probably a suicide, seals the case for almost everyone.
This beautiful town so immaculate on the outside is totally different underneath.
Our two lady sleuths continue to break down the walls as each one looms infront of them and
as each obstacle is overcome they get nearer to the solution but possibly endanger themselves.
July 12, 2023
Love this book series! So cute and fun and great as an audiobook
November 12, 2023
Book #3 - they are all the same. Pubs, unhappily married couples, domineering wives and small town gossip. Oh, and of course Murder. It’s a cozy little series I’ll continue with somewhere along the way.
February 1, 2016
Not so good, I did finish it though, will continue with the series.
June 20, 2022
Almost a 3.5 but I felt, having read the previous two, that this one started off very slowly. It actually took me almost two weeks to get past page 60 but, once I did, I read the rest within three days. As usual, the main characters are two 50ish single women living side by side in a small Sussex coastal village called Fethering. The mystery this time, however is centered in a larger town down the road called Fedborough. A mummified body is found in the wall of an old mansion--who was she, how and why did she die?
Carole Seddon has been on the outs with her usual sleuthing friend Jude (surname unknown) but Jude manages to draw Carole into the mystery. As usual one of them is threatened with mortal danger toward the end although the solution to this mystery has a strange ethical twist to it. I am not sure I am in agreement with the ultimate resolution but it certainly gave me pause to think.
I always enjoy descriptions of Carole, who is very buttoned up compared to the free spirited Jude but nonetheless fascinated and slightly envious of Jude. Jude makes Carole feel daring, brings her out of herself while the banter between the two enlivens what could be an otherwise run-of-the-mill cozy. Except this one is a cut above run-of-the-mill in my opinion, thanks to a large extend to Brett's sardonic take on small English villages and the aforementioned moral dilemma at the end of the book.
Carole Seddon has been on the outs with her usual sleuthing friend Jude (surname unknown) but Jude manages to draw Carole into the mystery. As usual one of them is threatened with mortal danger toward the end although the solution to this mystery has a strange ethical twist to it. I am not sure I am in agreement with the ultimate resolution but it certainly gave me pause to think.
I always enjoy descriptions of Carole, who is very buttoned up compared to the free spirited Jude but nonetheless fascinated and slightly envious of Jude. Jude makes Carole feel daring, brings her out of herself while the banter between the two enlivens what could be an otherwise run-of-the-mill cozy. Except this one is a cut above run-of-the-mill in my opinion, thanks to a large extend to Brett's sardonic take on small English villages and the aforementioned moral dilemma at the end of the book.
December 22, 2025
Brett moves past the Ted Crisp romance, and its aftermath is a decent bit of character work for Carole. And despite it being Jude who this time is in on the body discovery, we discover next to no more about her. No drug dealers in this one, a rather nice conclusion that I sort of guessed at the start, but more than enough red herrings to throw me off my track. Skewers small town art scenes particualrly well.
October 5, 2020
Another winner in the Fethering series. If you liked the first two books in the series you will enjoy this one as well!
May 24, 2021
This is the third book in the Fethering mystery series, feature chalk and cheese neighbours Carole and Jude.
It starts with a dinner party at Pelling House, where Jude finds a mummified torso in the cellar. It isn’t long before Jude and Carole are returning to the small market town where it happened to investigate. Carole, however, is smarting from a breakup in a recent relationship, and isn’t as motivated as usual.
But it isn’t long before Jude’s befriending the locals, getting them invited to an important dinner party, and interviewing everyone with a connection to Pelling House over the years. As you would expect, there are plenty of characters in the town and even more suspects, once the body is identified.
Carole and Jude’s progress is a joy to behold as they get behind and under the façade of this sleepy town and its often pompous residents. I loved the author’s gentle mocking of middle class foibles, values and attitudes and the undercurrent of humour that keeps the story jogging along at a merry pace.
The descriptions and social commentary are a delight, the characters beautifully, an occasionally tragically, portrayed, and the investigation leads to an exciting climax, followed by an unexpected twist that adds to the reader’s pleasure.
If you enjoy a cosy mystery that’s original, sophisticated and fun, then this series is a treat and fast becoming one of my favourites.
It starts with a dinner party at Pelling House, where Jude finds a mummified torso in the cellar. It isn’t long before Jude and Carole are returning to the small market town where it happened to investigate. Carole, however, is smarting from a breakup in a recent relationship, and isn’t as motivated as usual.
But it isn’t long before Jude’s befriending the locals, getting them invited to an important dinner party, and interviewing everyone with a connection to Pelling House over the years. As you would expect, there are plenty of characters in the town and even more suspects, once the body is identified.
Carole and Jude’s progress is a joy to behold as they get behind and under the façade of this sleepy town and its often pompous residents. I loved the author’s gentle mocking of middle class foibles, values and attitudes and the undercurrent of humour that keeps the story jogging along at a merry pace.
The descriptions and social commentary are a delight, the characters beautifully, an occasionally tragically, portrayed, and the investigation leads to an exciting climax, followed by an unexpected twist that adds to the reader’s pleasure.
If you enjoy a cosy mystery that’s original, sophisticated and fun, then this series is a treat and fast becoming one of my favourites.
April 24, 2016
The Torso in the Town by Simon Brett.
The 3rd in the Fethering mysteries. Carole and Jude, both middle-aged retirees, have been hooked into another baffling murder case. Jude has been invited to a dinner party in the not so near by town of Fedborough. Then during the usual small talk that accompanies a dinner party among the guests the teenage son of the hosts yells out from the basement.
Jude not the first on the scene witnesses a sight that renders her speechless...at least for another few minutes. The torso of an unidentified person without any limbs lay before them.
This is one of my favorite mystery series and this book reinforces that choice. Excellently written with clear character definition and background. The resolution was not a simple one but it was a stunner!
The 3rd in the Fethering mysteries. Carole and Jude, both middle-aged retirees, have been hooked into another baffling murder case. Jude has been invited to a dinner party in the not so near by town of Fedborough. Then during the usual small talk that accompanies a dinner party among the guests the teenage son of the hosts yells out from the basement.
Jude not the first on the scene witnesses a sight that renders her speechless...at least for another few minutes. The torso of an unidentified person without any limbs lay before them.
This is one of my favorite mystery series and this book reinforces that choice. Excellently written with clear character definition and background. The resolution was not a simple one but it was a stunner!
August 26, 2017
This was my first Simon Brett book, and I liked it. Brett was consistent in his portrayals of Carole's and Jude's different personalities and unlikely partners in detective work. Twists and turns in their investigation into "who butchered a female body and hid the torso in the wall" kept the reader guessing along with them who the murderer was. The townspeople were a "melting pot" of natives with some newer residents tossed in, each character with his or her own personality. I enjoyed the role of young Harry who discovered the torso and was pleased with the way Carole and Jude "wrapped up the case." I think I'll check out other books in this "series."
June 29, 2020
Despite being a cozy mystery, this was not an easy read for me. The descriptions of Fedborough, of the town itself, building, various scenes was distracting. The mystery was hardly any mystery. 45% into the book the identity of the corpse was revealed. Before that it was a slog fest and it did pick up towards the end hence two stars. There wasn't much detective-ing done by our protagonists and more of nosiness. The only brightness shown was right at the end in figuring out the true killer but by then it was too late.
Jude as a protagonist had been written with no insight into her own thought process. It was a bad writing. Also none of the characters were likeable from Carol's point of view.
Jude as a protagonist had been written with no insight into her own thought process. It was a bad writing. Also none of the characters were likeable from Carol's point of view.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 23, 2021
The Torso in the Town was my favorite of the Fethering read thus far. Two pensioners, the ever respectable, uptight Carol and do-your-thing, free-spirited Jude find themselves in another Sussex hamlet solving yet another who-left-the-body murder. Carol and Jude have developed into enjoyable, complex characters since the first book and Simon Brett's ability to get inside each of their heads has grown each time. I am looking forward to picking up the next in the series. The Torso in the Town is a cozy escape on a rainy weekend by a fire.
March 24, 2017
I felt this book had a lot of missing backstory that I didn't get because I didn't read the first two books. The story was independent of that but it was distracting. I felt the mystery was done well and I thought the author did a good job of holding suspense. The ending was a little disappointing. I'm not totally sure how I feel about this book even now but I do want to read another book from the series to see if that explains more.
July 12, 2020
Carole and Jude stumble across a years old murder in a nearby town where they know almost no one. Of course they want to know who did it, even more so after the police close the case with the assumption that the murderer is dead. There are so many chance meetings and coincidences that provide Carole and Jude with clues that they even remark on it. Still its an entertaining mystery with characters I've enjoyed following.
June 1, 2020
I enjoy the "girls" trying to solve murders.
This was a bit scattered. Quite a few red herrings and unpleasant people.
A woman was drawn and quartered and then smoked. All because she complained that she got food poisoning from the grocer's egg salad. He had a reputation to uphold and was on the edge (or maybe a bit over) of falling into dementia.
I have read three Fethering Mysteries and will try another before I move on....
This was a bit scattered. Quite a few red herrings and unpleasant people.
A woman was drawn and quartered and then smoked. All because she complained that she got food poisoning from the grocer's egg salad. He had a reputation to uphold and was on the edge (or maybe a bit over) of falling into dementia.
I have read three Fethering Mysteries and will try another before I move on....
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2017
A very light mystery in the Feathering series. Jude and Carol, neighbours and unlikely friends try to solve a murder in a nearby town, putting themselves at risk, and somehow evading the concept of justice.
December 11, 2018
A dinner party where Jude is a guest is interrupted by the screams of the host's son, who has come across a torso in a partitioned portion of the basement.
Carole and Jude undertake to identify the victim and the murderer and, having done so, decide what constitutes justice.
Carole and Jude undertake to identify the victim and the murderer and, having done so, decide what constitutes justice.
October 19, 2022
Again as with the others fun. Though the motivation felt a bit... megh. So I suppose I wanted a better justification.
But I love being in Fethering because its a fun little setting which fun little characters.
But I love being in Fethering because its a fun little setting which fun little characters.
October 6, 2024
I really enjoy this series. They are humorous in a social satire way and make me think this could be an updated Miss Marple.
November 2, 2024
In Volume 3 of the Fethering Mystery series, our two sleuths Carole Seddon (proper and rather puritanical) and her next-door neighbor Jude (not-so-proper and free-flowing) are at a dinner party in the nearby town with some incredibly snobbish people (this is set in the early 2000s) when they discover the mummified torso of a woman.
Who could it be? Of course Jude and Carole are dying to know.
As usual, the plotting was deft and I loved the way in which the actual reasons for the murder (as well as the actual people engaged in it) are not discovered because the police stop bothering about the case once their chief suspect dies.
Those of you who have read the first two books of this series will know that Simon Brett enjoys teasing the reader about Jude. Until this volume, we had little idea of who she is, where she came from, whether she married or not, and what kind of work she engaged in. In THE TORSO IN THE TOWN, we learn that Jude is divorced and that she has not one, but two last names: Nichol and a Greek-sounding name beginning with an M. (As I experienced this as an audiobook, I don’t know how to spell it.)
As the blurb notes, this book is not just a murder mystery. It is also a send-up of contemporary Britain. As a person who grew up in 1960s and 1970s Britain this surprised me, as the snobbishness, tribalism and fascination with the social pecking order struck me as very quaint indeed. I left Britain in 1982 and have not lived there for over 40 years. Although I have made many visits, I believed that our generation was more democratic than our forebears. So to hear some of these characters make offensive comments that used to trip off the lips of my grandmother and great-aunts seemed almost surreal.
The other great thing about this volume was the way in which Simon Brett writes so empathically about women. One of my favorite scenes is when Jude is having lunch in a pub and eavesdropping on a couple of men. I loved the way in which Mr. Brett delineated how male laughter sounds to a woman, and how male bonding behavior can seem so repulsive.
So, even if you are not a great fan of murder mysteries, who might want to give this one a whirl. Especially if you are planning on visiting Britain in the near future. Five stars.
Who could it be? Of course Jude and Carole are dying to know.
As usual, the plotting was deft and I loved the way in which the actual reasons for the murder (as well as the actual people engaged in it) are not discovered because the police stop bothering about the case once their chief suspect dies.
Those of you who have read the first two books of this series will know that Simon Brett enjoys teasing the reader about Jude. Until this volume, we had little idea of who she is, where she came from, whether she married or not, and what kind of work she engaged in. In THE TORSO IN THE TOWN, we learn that Jude is divorced and that she has not one, but two last names: Nichol and a Greek-sounding name beginning with an M. (As I experienced this as an audiobook, I don’t know how to spell it.)
As the blurb notes, this book is not just a murder mystery. It is also a send-up of contemporary Britain. As a person who grew up in 1960s and 1970s Britain this surprised me, as the snobbishness, tribalism and fascination with the social pecking order struck me as very quaint indeed. I left Britain in 1982 and have not lived there for over 40 years. Although I have made many visits, I believed that our generation was more democratic than our forebears. So to hear some of these characters make offensive comments that used to trip off the lips of my grandmother and great-aunts seemed almost surreal.
The other great thing about this volume was the way in which Simon Brett writes so empathically about women. One of my favorite scenes is when Jude is having lunch in a pub and eavesdropping on a couple of men. I loved the way in which Mr. Brett delineated how male laughter sounds to a woman, and how male bonding behavior can seem so repulsive.
So, even if you are not a great fan of murder mysteries, who might want to give this one a whirl. Especially if you are planning on visiting Britain in the near future. Five stars.
October 27, 2025
Carole and Jude become involved in a mystery in the nearby middle-class town of Fedborough when during a dinner party there, Jude comes across the semi-mummified torso of a woman in the basement of the home she is visiting. The arms and legs of the body had been severed, and it took quite some time for the police to discover the identity of the corpse. Jude thinks it will do Carole good to look into this incident because Carole is moping around after the end of her short relationship with Ted Crisp, the bartender whom she began to see some months earlier. And while it is true that Carole’s mood brightens as she gets interested in the case, there are serious consequences to the investigations that the pair are pursuing…. This is the third of the Fethering mysteries, although the village of Fethering barely features here. We learn a small bit more about Jude, for example a possible last name for her, and Carole begins to realize that shutting herself off from other people is possibly not the best way to live, but most of the story features residents of the neighbouring town of Fedborough, which sounds like a thoroughly unpleasant place to live, it being rigidly hierarchical and snobbish. I really enjoyed this one, perhaps because of all the ridiculousness of the characters, and I’m curious to see how the relationship between the two main characters develops in the future; recommended.
August 31, 2020
3.5 rounded down to remind me that I don't care if I get around to reading any other books in the series. For me the book's main weakness was that I couldn't care much about any of the characters, including Carole and Jude. Its strength was (ironically?) the character development, and the humor the author brought to their foibles. Sadly, it was a grim sort of humor - the cruel, snobby wife, the sad drunk, the awkward, pimply teen.
The concept of 2 middle aged women investigating a murder without the benefit of the kind of evidence the police can gather is done better in the Southern Sisters series by Anne George, and much as I love those books, I definitely prefer a mystery where I have access to concrete clues. That's why Conan Doyle rules and I'm taking Simon Brett off my to read list.
The concept of 2 middle aged women investigating a murder without the benefit of the kind of evidence the police can gather is done better in the Southern Sisters series by Anne George, and much as I love those books, I definitely prefer a mystery where I have access to concrete clues. That's why Conan Doyle rules and I'm taking Simon Brett off my to read list.
November 29, 2024
It had been a minute since I read book #2 and I'd forgotten how charming this series is. The author has a knack for the subtle British humor and I often find myself giggling. This was exactly what I needed right now.
I adore Carol. She's one of my top twenty favorite characters of all time. I relate so easily to her. Carol and Jude make such a great pair.
Jude is at a dinner party in the town next door. It's disrupted when the children find something horrible in the basement - a torso!
Carol is in the pits about her brief affair being over and Jude thinks a mystery is just what she needs. Carol doesn't want to give in but she can't help herself.
Carol and Jude get to know the suspects and things just keep getting twistier. I didn't see the end coming, though, in retrospect, all the clues were there.
I already have book #4 on hold.
I adore Carol. She's one of my top twenty favorite characters of all time. I relate so easily to her. Carol and Jude make such a great pair.
Jude is at a dinner party in the town next door. It's disrupted when the children find something horrible in the basement - a torso!
Carol is in the pits about her brief affair being over and Jude thinks a mystery is just what she needs. Carol doesn't want to give in but she can't help herself.
Carol and Jude get to know the suspects and things just keep getting twistier. I didn't see the end coming, though, in retrospect, all the clues were there.
I already have book #4 on hold.
July 2, 2020
Brett, Simon. The Torso in the Town. Fethering No. 3. Berkley, 2003.
Simon Brett is a master craftsman. He builds sweet little mystery machines that run like clockwork and surprise you just when they should, and never more than they should. Carole and Jude, two mismatched retirees, work without the help of the police to solve the mystery of a dismembered body found in a posh house basement. Just under the surface is a not-very-kind portrait of middleclass English society in the twenty-first century. As usual in this series, it is fun to watch how our heroines work through different logical paths to come to the truth in the end. Brett is always the perfect guy for a short beach read, especially if you have run out of Dick Francis novels.
Simon Brett is a master craftsman. He builds sweet little mystery machines that run like clockwork and surprise you just when they should, and never more than they should. Carole and Jude, two mismatched retirees, work without the help of the police to solve the mystery of a dismembered body found in a posh house basement. Just under the surface is a not-very-kind portrait of middleclass English society in the twenty-first century. As usual in this series, it is fun to watch how our heroines work through different logical paths to come to the truth in the end. Brett is always the perfect guy for a short beach read, especially if you have run out of Dick Francis novels.
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