When Jude discovers the body of an old actor friend she was due to catch up with, she knows that his death was not an accident.
Her and Carole's investigation takes them to the realms of sitcom from the 1980s and the possibility of a connection with a previous death in the cast.
Plenty of red herrings are thrown up until the killer is revealed.
A nice quick read.

This was a fast and fun read, peppered with lots of chuckles. Anyone who knows anything about theatre people or who has experienced a nosy neighbor will recognize and find humor in the author's character descriptions. Simon Brett is known for all the mysteries he has written. While this one didn't stray from his usual script, it was entertaining.

A provisional theatre has been staging a production of a popular sit com from the late 1980’s using many of the cast from the original TV series. The last show of the tour has just finished with the theatre staff, cast, families, and friends celebrating on stage. Jude and Carole, having seen the show, go backstage in search of Drake, one of the actors who Jude had worked with in the past, only to find him dead in his dressing room. Suspicions aroused this enterprising duo embark on their own investigations.

Jude and Carole come from different backgrounds and life experiences which provides for some delightful quick witted conversations. The ‘cast’, and list of suspects, are many and varied with the TV characters and the actors portraying them described with suitable theatrical relish.

This mystery has good pace and provides some interesting insight into the workings of a theatre and the fickle nature of ‘fame’. My only minor criticism is that the ending felt a bit rushed and abrupt. Overall, an amusing and fun cosy mystery.

What was meant to be an enjoyable night at the theater and a reunion goes terribly wrong in this latest in a long running series that can be read just as enjoyably as a standalone. Jude finds her old pal Drake dead in his dressing room! Now, along with her friend Carole, she's investigating and working her way through the other members of the cast to find the villain, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's very classic cozy with enough twists to keep you guessing.

The prolific author who recently celebrated his eightieth birthday has written several series of books, notably the Charles Paris series, the Fethering mysteries, the Declutter mysteries and the Mrs. Pargetter mysteries. This book is the eleventh in the Fethering series.
Fethering is a fictional village on the south coast of England in the Brighton area. Two friends - Carole Seddon once of the Home Office and very reserved and Jude who has been a model, an actress, a restaurnteur and is now a professional Healer. They like to get involved and investigate mysteries.
Jude goes to the theatre in nearby village of Clincham, she has retained friends in the Acting world and is looking forward to seeing and catching up with Drake Purslow. He originally had a starring role in a 1980s popular TV series called House/Home. It has been revived for the stage and Drake is appearing in the Clincham theatre. Most of the old cast are performing in the play. At the end of the performance Jude goes to Drake's dressing room and finds him dead. The Stage management see it as an accident, an ancient computer having fallen on him and killed him. Jude however is convinced it is murder!
The TV and Theatre folk are typical of the "Luvie" brigade. Jude and Carole interview several of them, trying to reveal the murderer. They decide that Drake's death is connected in some way to the suicide of a young actor from the TV programme some years ago. As they get closer to the truth danger lurks all around.
A well established, humorous series, well written. Definitely very much recommended.

Death in the Dressing Room is book 22 in Simon Brett’s A Fethering Mystery series.

While I have no doubt that the earlier books are interesting, and may give more insight into the relationship between Jude and Carole, as well as insight into their individual characters, it is easily read as a standalone.

I enjoyed this mystery, which begins with Jude attending a reunion of sorts, of the cast of an old television show as they close out a theatrical tour. At the end of the performance, Jude goes backstage to meet her friend and finds him dead.

Due to the longtime relationships between many of the cast members, there are plenty of suspects in the death for Jude and Carole to investigate. In addition, they suspect the actor’s death may be related to the mysterious death of another actor twenty years before, and they set out to prove it.

I found the relationship between Jude and Carole to be the most interesting thing in this novel. Jude must be a saint, because Carole’s attitude in many situations would have tried my patience. Still, they seemed to make a great pair when it came to investigating so obviously their relationship works for them.

Death in the Dressing Room was an interesting mystery with a great cast of characters and I think most lovers of cosy mysteries will enjoy it.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Jude plans a night at the theatre, to see her old friend Drake in a play based on an old television sitcom, after watching the performance Jude heads backstage to see Drake, but when she gets there Drake is lying on the floor surrounded by blood.
Just and her friend and neighbour Carole decide to investigate as Jude is not convinced by the accident that the theatre is pushing. This leads them to look at another death linked to the theatre.
A lovely cosy mystery, well written and with plenty of interesting characters.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

We adore this series so there was a bit of a fight over who should read it first. My daughter in law has sharp elbows and pushed her way to the front and pinched my kindle. Apparently is was just as good as all of the others. Personally I like them because ,if you read carefully ,you can identify these characters in folks you know yourself. The author is very clever at character building.

Years ago, I used to read all the books by this author and I loved the West Wittering series. I think life and small children took over and I lost track of the intrepid duo, so I was very glad to find this.
I must admit, however, that I was rather underwhelmed. I felt the plot rambled on far too long and then ended with a sudden conclusion.
Unfortunately, I dont think the ladies of West Wittering have regained my interest enough to read the missing years or to continue with their further investigations.
Thanks to Netgalley.

This is the 22nd book in the Fethering series and is a great addition. Jude goes to a play in which an old friend, Drake Purslow, is an actor. After the play she goes up to his dressing room to find him dead. She sees a bloody shoe print and a heavy portable computer nearby. When Fiona, the stage director comes up, she puts down tissues to kneel on obliterating the shoe print. When Jude gets home, she asks her neighbor, Carole to help her investigate what she believes is a murder. Carole volunteers to help the theater archivist with her research, and finds information about who was in the same plays with Drake in the past. They even find out there might be a connection to another murder in the theater several years before. At the end Jude and Carole solve the case and there is a very interesting funeral celebration with most of the cast. I love the Fethering series and the books are always fun and clever.

I thank Netgalley and Severn House for providing me an ARC so that I could read the book before publication.

Clincham Theatre in Fethering, England, is renowned for its theatre versions of old television shows. But murder has a funny way of changing the script. Carole and Jude, neighbours and amateur sleuths, participate in investigating the death of someone from Jude's past The two ladies are very different from one another yet make a great team.

Sadly, this book did not grip me as I had hoped it would. The characters sound intriguing on paper but fell short, possibly due to the brief time I spent with them. Rituals such as smudges aren't my wheelhouse but learning bits about theatre was interesting, especially as a fan of Oscar Wilde and Wilkie Collins. Though the novel didn't click with me, it will with others.

It was a pleasure to reacquaint with Carole and Jude in the latest Fethering mystery. This time around, Jude visits an old acting mate who has just finished a performance, only to find him dead in his dressing room. Appearances convince those in charge to consider the death an accident, so the police are not called. Jude senses this is the wrong decision and enlists friend/neighbour Carole to do a bit of sleuthing.
Tightly written, with good characterization, the story is a quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. Recommend.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon Brett for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Death in the Dressing Room coming out April 1, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I didn’t realize there were so many books in this series. This was the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love cozy mysteries! This was a really fast read, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the seaside English town. The theatre setting was fun. I really enjoyed the zany characters. I would definitely read more books by this author!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries!

This is the 22nd in Simon Brett's Fethering Mysteries series and, as always, I looked forward to catching up with Jude and her neighbour Carol. The mystery surrounds the death an actor who is appearing in a stage version of an old TV comedy show in which he starred years ago. The women's investigations reveal a number of motives stemming from events that took place when the original series was being made. And, inevitably, they eventually solve the crime. However, not much has changed in the lives of Jude and Carol which is not surprising after so many stories so the descriptions of their lives and relationship was a little flat this time round. Nevertheless, Simon Brett's light-hearted approach to his characters made this a very cozy read - a book to curl up with - which I really enjoyed .

How has there been 22 of these books and how old does that make me as I have read them all (I don't want to think about it!). The cosiest of cosy mysteries, same and familiar. the characters don't evolve but that is not really a problem. Read in any order is generally OK and this continues to be an enjoyable series.

I love this author. He writes well and he is a great narrator as I have some books in audiobooks as well. Great plot. Love the characters and I love the back stories that in other books often feel like fillers. These aren’t. This book is great and I really recommend it

Thanks to Severn House and Net Galley for this ARC. I have read other reviews that pan this book but i though it was great and if i'm honest a step up form the last two in the series which i felt and dipped a bit but now with this book is back on form. A great plot, very reminiscent of Charles Paris. Looking forward to more

There is something magically and strangely addictive about these Fethering mysteries. The writing is crisp, economical and always entertaining. The characters of Carole and Jude, neighbours and amateur sleuths are imaginative, making for compulsive reading.

In this latest book, their relationship is filed with competitive appreciation underscored with a collective desire to solve a suspicious death that happens at the end of a stage production which Jude attends.
The tension in this detective duo is heightened by Jude’s comfort around theatre people with her own background as an amateur actor, while, Carole feels like an outsider in an alien environment until she steals a crucial advantage.

I really enjoyed this one, set as it is, reflecting the history of light entertainment and the struggle of provincial theatrical productions. The cast of characters is cleverly explored and it is clear that Simon Brett is at home in this world of stalled tv careers, and the hopes for a play on tour, making it as a West End show.

The storytelling in all consuming; bringing you into this fictional realm of familiar characters and routine, something that never gets boring for me, twenty-two books in and each read in publication order with affection and lasting pleasure.

I have read other offerings of this prolific author, but the books I pick up with most anticipation are these ones and “Death in the Dressing Room” is right up there with the best. This latest title enhances the series and demonstrates why I love these books so much.

☕ Review: Death in the Dressing Room

🧁Rate: 5 Stars!!

📖Praise: This was definitely the delicious and delightful mystery read I definitely needed! I have never read this author before and now I will definitely be coming back for more! When it comes to mystery series I love when books that involve a murder actually either on a movie set or on stage! I was really excited to find a mystery with magic and mischief that ruled on stage! And took a turn for the wicked worse next!

😎Naturally when I read the characters were doing a revival of a 1980s TV show, which is my favorite era, I definitely delved into this mystery right away!

🍩I will not give away spoilers! LOL The author did a great job writing out the emotions of each character to where I can envision them structured and both sorted and unsorted in the best way possible!

🎙️Characters: Meeting Jude and Carole was a ride I would spend all my tickets on! Very entertaining and very seize the moment spirits!! These characters had a sugar and spice effect that made the book more an engaging read! Characters that are always the opposites tend to make things like a video game! You never know what level they're going to be on next and how they're going to conquer getting through to the next level. Love them!!

🧁Trope: The author truly has a gift for bringing together a light-hearted scene in a moment and grinding it into shocking twists and turns the only make me want to keep reading this book over and over!

🍪Cozy Mystery
🍪 Who done it?
🍪 Adventure

Bravo Simon!! 💖

Fethering may not be my favorite of Simon Brett's series, but I have been really enjoying it. The oddly mismatched friendship between Jude and Carol is great, even if they never seem to grow much as a result of their long friendship. Jude is always so smugly superior, in a 'nice' way, while Carol is always so predictably stubborn and closed-minded, set in her ways no matter what the circumstances. This far into the series the shtick is starting to feel a bit tired, though maybe not as tired as the silly catchphrases the actors in this book are laden with. I did enjoy this book, especially the theater setting that reminded me of the Charles Paris books (yeah, I know, Paris was getting older, his alcoholism was becoming just sad, etc., but I really liked that series). The ending felt really rushed, which made me wonder if this book is wrapping up the Fethering series, or prepping us for the final book. I guess we'll just have to see what happens next. Meanwhile, this was a fun, fast read, and a chance to revisit the Fethering characters.