Chapter one was infused with poetic prose that pulled me in. It is a book series so I will have to get the other books soon. If you want a mystery and suspense book that will keep you up at night then you will want to read this book.

Murder, mystery and mayhem in Fethering

Although a popular author, this is the first Simon Brett mystery I've read. It won't be the last! One of a series set in Fethering, a village where nothing escapes the notice of amateur sleuths Jude and Carole. Jude attends a lecture in the library by an author she knew (and didn't much like) before he became famous. He offers her a lift home but, as he clearly thinks will lead to something more she declines, leaving him in his car outside the library. When he is found dead in the place Jude left him, she comes under suspicion. Determined to clear her name, Jude and Carole investigate.....

Not sure how Simon Brett's books have escaped my radar before, but this one is great fun. Full of interesting village characters, with lots of twists and turns and red herrings. I will be looking for more murder mysteries by this author.

The Liar in the Library opens with Jude Nichols - healer, Sauvignon Blanc drinker, Fethering resident - is attending an 'Author's Evening' at he local public library. The speaker is Burton St. Clair, author of a recent bestselling romance novel. As it happens Jude knew the writer many years ago when he was married to her friend Megan and his name was Albert Sinclair. When St. Clair offers Jude a ride home at the conclusion of the event, he makes a pass at her and she walks off. When St. Clair is found dead in his car in the library parking lot, Jude becomes the prime suspect. So of course, Jude and her neighbor Carole Seddon investigate.

This book is the 18th in the series, but I read it without having read any of its predecessors. At least in this book Jude and Carole don't seem very close, and don't seem to like each other much, so I assume the previous books establishes their relationship - either that or they really are just 'friends' due to their proximity to each other and their mutual appreciate for New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

This is a pretty simple mystery, and felt very contrived - like the police's complete focus on Jude as a suspect, evidently based only on her interaction with St. Clair following the library event and a bunch of lies told to them by St. Clair's first wife. Anyone looking for a light mystery, or who has read previous books in this series and enjoyed the characters and the town of Fethering will probably enjoy this book.

This book is not for me at all. I really was disappointed with it.
I am sure that if you have read other books by this author then you may enjoy it

The Liar in the Library is the 18th installment in the series, but my first . It can be read as a stand-alone but I do recommend reading others first for a better understanding of the characters and their relationships. I really enjoyed this.story.

Sleazy author Burton St Clair has been murdered. Late last night, his wandering hands found their way onto Jude and today the police are on her doorstep. Not only was Jude at the library-cum-crime scene, but she was the last person to see Burton St Clair alive. Now a prime suspect, Jude recruits Carole to dust off their detecting skills and prove Jude’s innocence.

Prim and proper Carole Seddon is a textbook Fethering citizen, but her neighbor, Jude, the bohemian healer with a colorful past, is not. Despite their differences, they make for an unbeatable, amateur sleuthing team and their skills are needed now more than ever.

Full of wonderful characters that are well rounded, reminds of a Miss Marple type of village characters and setting. I found it had a good plot and that there were enough.red herrings to keep me guessing.till almost the end. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Agatha Christie mysteries.

I requested and received an advanced reader copy from Netgalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

I was unaware this is the 18th book in a series when I requested it. I tried to read it as a standalone but I was missing too many details and important context. As such, I will be unable to finish this book and/or post a thoughtful review. Thank you for your consideration.

The Liar in the Library by Simon Brett is a classic whodunit. Set in a quaint English seaside town and filled with characters that feel like friends and aquaintces within a few pages. The book seems to follow a know pattern, discuss the pattern and be a delightful read. Highly recommend it for lovers of a good mystery or whodunit.

My first in the now 18-strong series, and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Jude and Carole make a great amateur investigative team as they look into the death of an old acquaintance of Jude's, a rather awful writer who'd been speaking at Fethering Library.

I did actually peg the murderer (thanks to a subtle tip from another reviewer), but then second-guessed myself, only to find that I was initially correct! It's good old-fashioned detective work in the modern world. Jude is rather au fait with all things technological while Carole prefers the old-school method and telephones people for appointments, etc., in order to speak with them. There's a nice tie-in with the Golden Age mysteries and how they were solved.

I'll definitely be going back to the beginning of this series. It was a great read.

This book did not meet my expectation. I was expecting more of an inspector led mystery not a cozy.

The Liar in the Library is a crime novel which, ironically, dissects crime novels. There’s a murder in the Fethering Library and all of the people in the small town become “amateur sleuths”, trying to find the killer, while at the same time, some of them are also suspects in the murder.

The book borders with obsession when it comes to the crime genre. It goes into the depths of the perfect murder according to the Golden Age crime novels. In fact, it focuses so deeply on how the murder should be solved, that it kills the suspense, because everyone is rambling on and on about how hard it is to be a crime book author, how crime books are written, what would crime book characters do and so on. For God’s sake… this is a crime book, give it a rest.

It felt suspiciously as if the author was describing his personal struggles as such, as well as the problems of the publishing world, and his own love for “the Golden Age”. Be it so, or not, it was exasperating, because it made the book a lot less thrilling and a lot more methodical. If you’re still unsure what I mean, imagine porn but with your biology teacher from middle school in the background narrating about the act of inserting the penis into the vagina.

Another thing that quite frankly annoyed me was that the author was supposedly being judgmental about the negative attitude of some British people toward Polish immigrants, all the while also writing the following:

“(…) Then he changes, you know, like Jekyll and Hyde.” [this is Zosia, the only Polish character that speaks in the book]

Jude was impressed by the girl’s command of British literature, as she went on (…)

It’s so impressive that a Polish person happens to know about one of the most famous books in the world? I would say that a vast majority of the Polish people most probably have a better grasp of British literature than a lot of British people do. Frankly, I found this sentence quite hypocritical, considering how the author is also trying to defend the Poles, both before and after that offhand statement. If there’s a proof of xenophobia, it’s found exactly in such remarks, said without much thought or deliberation. And bear with me, I’m not an easily offended person at all. I do, however, happen to be living in Poland, and all we see of British people here is this (ALL the time), and yet, I haven’t allowed that to form my opinion of all British people.

That little rant aside, the story itself was also kind of bland, the murderer’s motive kind of convoluted and the main characters, Jude and Carole, kind of bitchy. Not my cup of tea.

A good mystery and well written, a cozy whodunnit that is part of a series. Light and enjoyable for a cold winters night.

This is the eighteenth book in the Fethering Mystery series by Simon Brett. I haven’t read them all, but I’ve read at least half of them and this one is an excellent example of the series. The books feature Jude, a free spirited healer whose life experiences are broad and characterized by her frequent ability to say yes to whatever life offers. Contrasting Jude, the other partner in this crime duo is Carol, who has retired from government service and is the picture of a person who has followed the rules all her life and suspects any and all who color outside the lines.
In THE LIAR IN THE LIBRARY, Jude is the primary protagonist which is understandable as she is also the prime suspect for the police. This is somewhat a departure for the series as all the books I have read previously have had Jude and Carol combining forces almost from the beginning, despite their differences in how they approach life. Through their efforts to solve murders they have become unlikely and uneasy friends who spend time together but perhaps don’t exactly enjoy each other’s company.
Jude has gone to a lecture at the library featuring a former acquaintance and, although Carol was invited she quickly declined as she is sure lecture series are not for her. In her opinion, the library is really only good for books and things that she can get to entertain her two grandchildren. Unfortunately, after the lecture is over, Jude is the last person seen with the victim and the police quickly fix on her as their number one suspect.
It doesn’t help any that the victim’s first wife has developed this unshakable belief that Jude and her former husband had an affair and that was the reason for their divorce. Although Jude assures everyone this isn’t true, the police seem determined to believe the ex-wife, even without any proof.
Forced to try and extricate herself from as sticky situation, Jude first teams up with a handsome man she met at the lecture series. They begin to investigate, but are warned off by the detective in charge. In behavior that is totally foreign to Jude, she backs off and allows herself to become unnerved by the activity around her. Finally, she decides she needs to do something to solve the murder so she enlists Carol’s help. Initially, Carol begins to investigate alone, a task she thoroughly enjoys as it allows her to become queen bee in her own mind. Before she can get too far along in her investigation, Jude has a change of heart and decides she will not allow the police to dictate her into a shrinking violet personality, and she joins Carol as the investigation proceeds.
It is typical of Carol that she resents Jude’s presence as she was enjoying being top detective, a slot she has felt too often has been designated to Jude. However, they begin to work together and fall into their typical relationship pattern of investigating in tandem and then discussing what they have learned over a glass each of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc, their wine of choice.
This book fits well into the series which is characterized by quiet investigations, interesting dynamics between the two primary protagonists, and a little local color to add substance. It is well plotted and has good red herrings and clues. I did solve this one prior to the end, although the twist is a nice one. If you are looking for a gentle read, one that has no violence to speak of (other than the initial murder) and insight into two older women who are vastly different and yet find ways to grow a friendship of sorts, this may be one you would enjoy. The book stands alone and there is little reason to read the series in order. Carol and Jude’s life change slightly over the course of the series, however, not in ways that are significant to developing the characters.
Simon Brett as two other series as well, one featuring Charles Paris, an aging actor, and one featuring Mrs. Pargeter, the widow of a former burglar. All three series are unique in their own way and all are well plotted. While I have my favorite, this review cannot be enhanced by my outlining it hear other than to say all three series have merits and are worth exploring. Thank you to NetGalley and Black Thorn Books for providing me an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased, honest review.

This is a proper detective book. It’s well thought out and well written.
Great read.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Blackthorn for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Like Brett's previous books, this is a fun, enjoyable read. I always enjoyed his Charles Paris mysteries, and the Fethering books are equally enjoyable. I particularly liked the references to golden age mysteries, including the book within a book.

It's a fairly typical cozy mystery, in that the amateurs figure things out long before the police do. An added twist here is that Jude, one of our heroines, is the prime suspect in the case.

While this is #18 in the Fethering series, you don't need to have read the others to enjoy this one. I've read the first few, but not most of the others in the series, and this book can stand nicely on its own - although, I now plan to go back and read the ones I've missed.

It's an enjoyable, pleasurable read.

I put this book under the cozy mystery category. As such it was an easy and enjoyable read.
I liked the two main woman characters and how they interacted with each other. The police appeared to be arrogant and you might shake your head at some of the character portrayed.

One of the latest 'very enjoyable' detective books I've read in such a long time. Very good indeed and also full of the mysterious feeling of the detective world set in the British environment with the casual occasional murder. Very good indeed!

Such a cozy fun read. It was a bit easy to guess but that didn’t matter or make it any less good to me because of the characters the setting and the cozy quality of the writing. I love a book like this in between heavier books. Perfect to cozy up with on a rainy day! Loved it

Really well plotted mystery. I liked the village setting with all the gossiping, very Miss Marple. I found the unlikeable characters a bit too over the top.

I found this book to be very entertaining and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy this genre.

Boring! The description I read on NetGalley mentioned an inspector. I did not realize this was a late installment in a cozy series. A man allergic to walnuts meets his death from something laced with walnuts. For those new to the series, the characters are not well-enough developed in this book to make it enjoyable. I did not enjoy it and really wish it had been a police procedural instead of a cozy. I received an advance electronic book through NetGalley with the expectation of an honest review.