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Vale of Tears (Bradecote and Catchpoll #5) by Sarah Hawkswood (Sept/Oct 25)
By Susan · 5 posts · 10 views
By Susan · 5 posts · 10 views
last updated Sep 20, 2025 02:26PM
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Vale of Tears (Bradecote and Catchpoll #5) - SPOILER Thread - (Sept/Oct 25)
By Susan · 5 posts · 6 views
By Susan · 5 posts · 6 views
last updated Sep 21, 2025 08:01AM
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? (2024-2025)
By Judy · 978 posts · 162 views
By Judy · 978 posts · 162 views
last updated Sep 23, 2025 05:38AM
What Members Thought
A Nice Class of Corpse (Mrs. Pargeter, #1) by Simon Brett.
Once again this author hits the mark. I can almost always count on him for a fun ride in a mystery. This is the beginning of the Mrs. Pargeter series and I'm on my way to fun, fun and more fun following it.
Melita Pargeter is quite the sleuth endowed with helpful tips from her late husband. The Devereaux is a seaside hotel for the elderly as their last resort of choice. Miss Naismith is the Devereaux's proprietress and she runs the facilit ...more
Once again this author hits the mark. I can almost always count on him for a fun ride in a mystery. This is the beginning of the Mrs. Pargeter series and I'm on my way to fun, fun and more fun following it.
Melita Pargeter is quite the sleuth endowed with helpful tips from her late husband. The Devereaux is a seaside hotel for the elderly as their last resort of choice. Miss Naismith is the Devereaux's proprietress and she runs the facilit ...more
I have only previously read some of the Fethering mysteries by this author, but enjoyed them, so I was hopeful that I would enjoy this and am pleased that I did. Published in 1986, this is the first in the series and involves a widowed Mrs Pargeter moving to the genteel Devereux Hotel in Littlehampton, a seaside retirement hotel.
It soon becomes apparent to the reader that Mrs Pargeter's former husband was a little shady, and left her both financially secure and with a slight tendency to look be ...more
It soon becomes apparent to the reader that Mrs Pargeter's former husband was a little shady, and left her both financially secure and with a slight tendency to look be ...more
I liked that this whodunnit was set in a seaside hotel, made a change from the usual country house weekend party. Mrs Pargeter was an interesting character, not to be intimidated by the hotel proprietress Miss Naismith.
The plot and red herrings were clever and I'm sure a lot of readers felt that they had guessed the murderer correctly!
The book was published in the 80's but it had a 60's vibe to it. Or perhaps that's because a lot of seaside towns in Britain are old-fashioned. Reminded me of th ...more
The plot and red herrings were clever and I'm sure a lot of readers felt that they had guessed the murderer correctly!
The book was published in the 80's but it had a 60's vibe to it. Or perhaps that's because a lot of seaside towns in Britain are old-fashioned. Reminded me of th ...more
I am definitely in the Mrs. Pargeter camp! Thoroughly enjoyable read with just the right amount of suspense mixed with wry humor. I also loved the play on words in the title.
Having read other books by this author, I was eager to try this series. This book is a quick, easy read as not only short, the chapters are short, making it easy to just read one more.
Mrs Pargeter is a widow who is trying to find a pleasant place to spend her retirement years, so takes up residence in a seaside hotel, occupied by people who are looking for the same sort of place. We are not told what Mr Pargeter did for a living, but it would seem it was something that would have at least, been ...more
Mrs Pargeter is a widow who is trying to find a pleasant place to spend her retirement years, so takes up residence in a seaside hotel, occupied by people who are looking for the same sort of place. We are not told what Mr Pargeter did for a living, but it would seem it was something that would have at least, been ...more
Aug 21, 2016
John Frankham
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-detective
What an accomplished writer Simon Brett is, in his detective fiction genre. Modern day, wry, cynical, knowing but humane. A few duds within the successes, of course. Not here. This is the first starring a 67 year old widow with a dubious (near criminal) past, who moves into a seaside residential hotel where the inmates start dropping like flies. She uses her experience to get on the trail of the murderer. Great fun.
Melita Pargeter is a 67 year old widow who moves into the Devereaux Hotel for a quiet retirement, and yet what she finds is theft and murder. With an unusual skill set learned from her late husband and a spirit of enquiry and self-preservation she sets out to solve the puzzle. This is the start of a new series which promises to be a fun and cozy series.
A pleasant start to a series I've been meaning to read for a while. I think it will be fun spending time with Mrs. Pargeter. Wonder if we will find out more about Mr. Pargeter?
...more
Great fun. Didn’t guess it! Will definitely read more! 🤩
Mar 16, 2022
Kim
is currently reading it
Aug 20, 2023
Layton
marked it as to-read
Oct 24, 2023
Jamie
marked it as to-read
