The Cinderella Killer

Starred review from July 21, 2014
Charles Paris lands a role in a traditional English Christmas pantomime of Cinderella in Brett’s masterful 19th mystery featuring the middle-aged actor (after 2013’s A Decent Interval). Not everyone cares about doing a traditional pantomime, as the addition of Kenny Polizzi, an American sitcom star, to the cast makes clear. Other cast members include English soap star Tilly Marcus and a remarkably untalented ex-boxer, and director Bix Rogers is interested only in the choreography. Adding to the fun are Kenny’s agent—or is that babysitter?—as well as Lilith Greenstone, his furiously angry estranged wife, and Gloria van der Groot, a wealthy and persistent stalker. Bemused, Charles hangs out with Kenny, whom he likes. Then Kenny falls off the wagon, a dancer disappears, and a body is found under the Eastbourne pier. The backstage scenes crackle with authenticity and wit. And Charles, a bit frayed around the edges, holds it all together.

December 16, 2013
The world of amateur dramatics provides the backdrop for British author Brett’s witty and intelligent 15th Fethering mystery (after 2012’s The Corpse on the Court). During a rehearsal of George Bernard Shaw’s The Devil’s Disciple, the body of actor Ritchie Good is found dangling from the gallows on stage at Fethering’s St. Mary’s Hall, after someone substituted a real noose for the Velcro one designed for the production. Could Ritchie have committed suicide? Was his death somehow an accident? Once the police lose interest in the case, the victim’s wife asks Carole Seddon and Jude Nichol to investigate. The two amateur detectives discover that members of the acting company, all engaged in petty intrigues, had good reason for wanting Ritchie dead. Amid a series of skillfully placed red herrings, the action builds to a resolution that will catch most readers by surprise. The motive when finally revealed is hilarious.

August 1, 2014

Charles's minor role in a Christmas production of Cinderella turns into a major hassle when he ends up involved in the lead's personal problems. Then Charles finds a murdered man under the Eastbourne pier. In Brett's 19th theatrical mystery (after A Decent Interval) the intrigue happens on and off the stage.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2014
Pubs are a driving force in the Charles Paris theatrical mysteries. Off-and-on British actor and accidental sleuth Paris has a drinking habit (a large Bell's whiskey taken at frequent, medicinal intervals), which means he's either rushing into, sitting in, or rushing out of watering holes. This is a convenient and convincing way for Paris to stumble over bodies backstage, deftly steer drinking-buddy suspects into unwise revelations, and observe suspicious offstage behavior. At the start of the latest Paris caper (this is the nineteenth), Charles is in a pub with famous American sitcom star Kenny Polizzi, trying to school Polizzi on what British pantomime is (they're both in the Christmas production of the pantomime Cinderella in Eastbourne, East Sussex). Polizzi is indeed a stranger in a strange land, but he imports some U.S. heat, including a gun and his manager, and some heat follows him, in the form of his money-grubbing, almost-divorced wife and an obsessed fan. The production itself is rife with rivalries, hinging on who gets what billing and, more important, how the pantomime is being desecrated by actors with little talent but big names. The mystery centers on the death of Polizzi, who has summoned Charles by cell phone to the Eastbourne pier and is found dead upon Charles' arrival. As always with Brett, we get a marvelous mix of theater, stagecraft, jostling egos, and killer wit.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)