Death and the Decorator

Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the eARC.
Another delicious outing in the Fethering series!
The two main protagonists, Jude and Carole, are in sleuthing mode again after Jude and Peter, her decorator, find the purse of a woman, missing for 30 years and presumably dead.
Jude and Carol's questioning of locals still around, stir up resentment, unease and gossip. Jude is still the easy-going, charming woman we've grown to love, Carol still the uptight, shy character who irks us. Still, the two remain friends, mostly due to their shared love of 'whodunits'.
Another must-read!

When Jude and local decorator Pete find a walled up handbag belonging to someone who disappeared thirty years previously, the Fethering gossip machine goes into overdrive. Surprisingly, the main people concerned in Anita's disappearance are still around, and have things to hide.

It's not long before there's a body to contend with, but is it suicide or murder? And what actually happened to Anita?

A classic Fethering adventure.

I loved this book, I loved the characters and even though I didn't realize it was part of a series I never read, I still loved it!

British cozy with twists and turns and a few red herrings. Carole Seddon and Jude snoop after a handbag belonging to Anita Garner, a woman missing for decades was found in a building under renovation, bringing old gossip alive. The village is in an uproar of speculation. Great cozy without humor, just intrigue. I recommend it for it’s twists and turns.
I requested and received a Net Galley ARC gratis and review in the same vein.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I really enjoyed this book, it made me smile and would recommend to others. Great read

Always a pleasure to catch up with Jude and Carole and see what’s happening on the south coast. This time it’s an old missing persons case involving a dodgy builder, a popular painter and decorator , and a mysterious playboy. All portrayed in the witty acerbic manner you come to expect from a Fethering mystery. A well written good story that provides a very enjoyable read. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this advance copy. Recommend.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Death and the Decorator, the twenty first novel to feature amateur sleuths Carole Seddon and her neighbour Jude, set in the West Sussex village of Fethering.

Jude is redecorating and during a discussion with her decorator, Pete, at his other place of work, Footscrow House, they discover an old handbag belonging to Anita Garner, who disappeared thirty years ago. Jude and Carole are determined to discover what happened to her, and in the course of their investigation uncover more than one secret.

I enjoyed Death and the Decorator, which is another light, fun read set in the middle classes of Little England, where nothing is as it outwardly seems. It is a good mix of humour and mystery, so I was puzzled as I laughed.

The plot consists of Carole and Jude asking questions and generally riling up those who were around at the time until they get some answers. It seems unsophisticated, but it’s extremely well done and I would never have guessed how it turns out. It’s a bit of a masterclass in misdirection.

Much of the humour in the novel derives from the personality differences between Carole and Jude. Carole is rigid in her thinking and routines and very insecure, whereas Jude is relaxed, secure in herself and a healer. It works as a source of humour and each brings their own skills to their investigation. Jude is the people person, extracting information and making the character assessments while Carole is the researcher, using her rigidity to do a thorough job.

Death and the Decorator is a fun read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Oh how I look forward to the next mystery by Simon Brett! Death and the Decorator is a very solid addition to the Fethering series. I have read this series from the start and this book, his 21st entry, was as enjoyable as the first. There is an interesting mystery involving many of the usual village inhabitants, and lots of red herrings, as amateur sleuths Carole Seddon and Jude solve the mystery. From the start of the series the two sleuths are portrayed as very different personalities and the oft times difficulties this affords has remained. Jude is a go with the flow woman with a hazy, intriguing background who works as a healer. Her next door neighbor could not be more different. Carole, a retired government servant, lives a rigid life and has a difficult time understanding Jude's lifestyle. Carole has such a prickly nature and, honestly, so many issues a good therapist could help with, I think that is what I have come to enjoy so much in this cozy series. The enduring friendship between these women and the fact that their foibles remain even while the reader wishes that Carole could loosen up a bit. I look forward to the next installment to this series.

This was such an easy read and really enjoyed it! The mysteries that surround them! Love cosy mystery stories, look forward to the next one in the series.

Jude meets her decorator Pete at his current job sight called Footscrow House, a large Victorian building which is being converted into holiday flats by a local developer. During their meeting Pete finds a woman's handbag behind a wall panel. The handbag belongs to Anita Garner, a young woman who vanished twenty years ago. Of course Jude and her neighbour Carole decide to investigate but a murder complicates things. A good read. This can be read as a stand alone. Lots of plot twists. A good quick read. Thank you for thecadvance copy Netgalley!

I have read a number of Simon Brett novels in the Charlie Parish series and always found them rich and entertaining and written in a style that is a joy to read. This is my first dive into the Fethering series so the characters were all new to me but perhaps a few familiar types from his other books. The relationship between Carole and Jude, the amateur sleuths from the series, is as complex as the differences in their characters and what gives this story an extra dimension. As with other novels by this author, the main characters fit a spectrum of the haves and have nots in English society forming a great background for a murder mystery. Following a tradition set by Agatha Christie, Simon Brett not only can craft a wonderful whodunit story but also provide a humorous exploration of life in a typical English Village.
I would highly recommend this book to lovers of English mysteries!
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.

Right from the start you are engaged by the characters, location and plot. You don’t need to have read any of the other Fethering - the fictional Sussex village - books to get enjoyment out of this cosy detective tale.. Simon Brett’s fresh appealing story doesn’t cheat the reader and until the denouement you don’t guess the ending.

Another fun cosy crime in the continuing Fethering series. The town and the characters of Jude and Carole never get stale. These are also able to be read out of order so new readers can pick up any of them but they are easy to get addicted to! I find they are also a great break in between reading any ‘heavier’ types of books.

Publishing on July 5, it’s hard to believe this is the 21st Feathering Mystery. You don’t have to have them all to figure out who is who, but these cosy crimes are definitely worth a look. Co-protagonist and would be amateur detective Jude has decided to redecorate Woodside Cottage, asking local handyman Pete to help out. Pete’s happy to assist in tandem with his current job, Footscrow House, a building that’s being converted into holiday flats. All well and good until a 30-year-old handbag is found, without its owner. Has ‘Fiasco House’ as it’s known been responsible for an unsolved mystery? And where’s intrigue, there’s Jude and her next-door neighbour Carole. The two make for unlikely friends and neither is so extreme like they read like caricatures. While they may live in the quiet town of Fethering, it’s clear there’s a lot more bubbling under the surface. Nice and pacy, there’s plenty to keep you entertained (these also make excellent audiobooks).

Death and the Decorator is Book No. 21 in the Simon Brett's Fethering Mystery Series. In this series two very dissimilar next door neighbors become unlikely friends interested in exploring the oddities of current and past residents of the small beach town where they live. Carole is a divorced retiree with conservative ideas and a rather boring lifestyle. Her next door neighbor and friend is Jude who works as a New Age healer and has a free living life style with multiple lovers and at least a couple of husbands. Surprisingly they become friends through a shared interest in investigating suspicious events happening in Fethering. (I learned lots about them reading previous books in the series but not much from this one.) In this book the renovation of a former nursing home leads to the discovery of a purse belonging to an employee that vanished years ago. The duo gets excited about learning more about why the purse was left behind and take off on pub crawls and neighborhood visits to solve the mystery. I had some difficulty in assigning a rating because the book has strong and weak points. The strong points revolve around its plot which was excellent with twists and turns that were unexpected but quite believable. The weakness was in the author's story telling which has gotten a bit stale over time. So I compromised on a 4 star rating.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a pre-publication copy of this book to review.

The discovery of a handbag linked to a missing person sparks the interest of neighbours Carole and Jude and they take it upon themselves to start asking questions of the local villagers but as usual they learn more than they bargain for and someone is not happy with their prying

In the 21st Fethering mystery Jude, who is planning to redecorate her cottage, has agreed to meet the decorator at his current job to discuss details. Peter, the decorator is working in an upstairs room at Footscrow House that is being converted into flats. Jude is there when Peter rips out a piece of plywood, uncovering an alcove. To their surprise they see woman's red handbag. It contains a passport belonging to Anita Garner, a young woman who worked at Footscrow House when it was a care home twenty years ago. Anita, a good Catholic girl who had lived with her parents disappeared twenty years ago and has never been heard from since.
Jude and Carole are determined to find out what happened to Anita. Their investigations proceed along separate lines of inquiry rather than together and there secrets and competition between the two friends. Still, between them they follow rumors, research newspapers from the time of Anita's disappearance and in the process discover lots of secrets from the past that involve current Fethering residents.
This is an enjoyable cozy of the kind we've come to expect from Brett. There's lots of local color and interesting characters.
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for the opportunity to read this title in one of my favorite series.

This was the first in the series for me, which is surprising because this is seems to be quite a long series, but it really enjoyed it. It’s slower paced, but everything unfolds in quite a timely manner so you never get bored. I liked that they both worked together and separately to work out the mystery. No random coincidences, but some intuition and a lot of asking questions in a gentle way; kind of an update Miss Marple!

I can’ t believe that this is the 21st book in the Feathering series. I’ve read them all from the beginning and Simon Brett always delivers.
The decorator of the title, Pete, is discussing some work with Jude as he carries out renovations at a local big house. They discover a handbag which has been hidden behind boards for the past 30 years. This discovery sends Carole and Jude off on their next investigation. Why has nobody seen the owner of the handbag for 30 years? Was she a murder victim and if so, is there a murderer in Feathering?
This book contains all the usual features of the series including the scenes set in the pub where the landlord is having a very unlikely romance. The relationship between Carole and Jude remains as prickly as ever but they continue to be a brilliant investigative team. There are a whole range of characters, many of who are members of the local yacht club and therefore part of the wealthier side of town. I did like the introduction of the retired reporter Malk.
The mystery is as intriguing as ever and there is a nice mix of humour too. A great light read for a Summer’s evening.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers Severn House for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

We have so many readers who are devoted to the Fethering books, and I know they are all going to be very happy when this new one is released. It hits all the marks -- the home renovation, the decorating, the competition in that world -- along with a satisfying mystery and relatable characters. I truly look forward to recommending this title to readers of the series, and to readers who enjoy other cozy mystery series.

Jude is having her sitting room repainted and has hired the decorator Pete, who is currently working in Footscrow House, an old building that has housed many different businesses, all of which have failed and thus has been nicknamed Fiasco House. Jude meets with him there, and while they talk, he is removing a panel. When the panel is out, it reveals a small triangular alcove holding a red leather woman's handbag. Besides the usual items, the bag has a new passport in the name of Anita Garner. Jude takes the the bag to the police. It appears that Garner disappeared about 30 years previously when the building was a senior care facility, and Anita, age 23 worked there.

Jude and her friend Carole immediately begin investigating. They check out the rumors at the Crown and Anchor, and talk to people who knew Anita, as well as checking on the internet and reading old newspapers from the time. Anita was an only child, and was Catholic. She had still been living with her parents. The senior care facility was owned and managed by Veronica and Harry Laselle. It was their son, Roland, who was now renovating it for holiday flatlets. Carole goes to the Library to read the old newspapers, and a man approaches her to tell she is reading his writings. The former newsman, Malt Penberthy, helps her find information. There is a lot of gossip around town, including that Roland and or his father was hitting on Anita. When Harry Lasalle dies of carbon monoxide poisoning on his boat, the gossip continues along with ideas on whether it was murder, suicide, or an accident. Jude finally gets great information from a man who went to school with Anita, and everyone else thought was clueless.

I enjoyed this book, which is very clever, includes humor, and there is a great surprise near the end.

A surprisingly complex mystery set in small-town coastal England features myriad interesting characters, and secrets slowly revealed.

In the early days, it was Chardonnay, now it is large glasses of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, but has anything much changed in this twenty-first visit to the murderous seaside town of Fethering?

Carole and Jude are still, uptight but now relaxedly-grandmotherly in one case, and just chilled and relaxed in the other. Nowadays they seem to investigate much more independently although just as intrusively as before. Ted looms large in the flourishing gastropub and the jokes are no better.

I have followed this series from its inception. It never strays out of the readers' comfort zone nor does it endeavour to tear away the comfort blanket. There are some ingenuities in the plotting of this one, and a slight twist towards the end, but essentially it administers the mixture as before. For most readers, old and new, this is reassuring. But I am no longer enamoured... and I am not a fan of magnolia!

3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House /Canongate Books for the digital review copy.

Another enjoyable visit to Fethering , where we meet the indomitable sleuthing duo Jude and Carole.
Jude is a free spirit in to healing , crystals and alternative therapies Carole on the other hand is very set in her ways and can be quite taciturn at times.
They make the unlikeliest of friends but the perfect amateur detectives .
Jude is having her living room decorated , and this in turn leads to her uncovering a handbag from a thirty year old disappearance.
Carole and Jude get their interest piqued and they begin to investigate.
The writing is of the calibre you expect from Simon Brett , easy to read with light hearted moments never forgetting the serious subject of the story that being murder.
The relationship between Jude and Carole is both complex and credible.
I’ve enjoyed all the Fethering mysteries and this one doesn’t disappoint.
Overall an enjoyable cozy mystery !
Highly recommended!
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House.

Death and the Decorator is the twenty-first book in the Fethering mystery series.

It started with the discovery of a thirty-year-old handbag in a wall during a remodeling job. Its owner, Anita Garner, had gone missing around the same time. Anita worked in the building, which was then a nursing home. Jude and Carole, amateur detectives (and professional busybodies), decide to investigate Anita’s case.

Death and the Decorator is newly written but feels like a golden age mystery. The small British beach town setting is unchanged from the 1930s. However, many of its characters struggle with modern conveniences like cell phones and laptops. They are older and/or retired. Therefore, this book might be a better fit for an older reader.

If you fancy an Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple type of plot, but set in modern times, you can’t go wrong with Death and the Decorator, or really any of the books in this series. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars!

Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

A fun very quick read about a very cold case! Jude and her contractor Pete discover a handbag belonging to Anita, a young woman who disappeared from Fethering 20 years earlier, behind a wall in house Pete's working on. She can't help it- she rounds up Carole and they're off to ask questions. The charm in this series (and this will be fine as a standalone) lies in the odd couple of the strait-laced Carole and the more free wheeling Jude. There are a few surprises in store but the mystery is less interesting than the biplay between this pair. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC.

I love Fethering stories and was more than happy to catch up with Jude and Carole. It was a lot of fun and I liked the story and how the author deals with some serious issues keeping the tone light.
It's a good and gripping mystery, there's a lot of quirky characters, and the twists and the solution surprised me.
Simon Brett is a master storyteller and this story kept me hooked and entertained.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

How does Simon Brett continue to make Fethering Mysteries so interesting and unique after twenty-something in this series? I have no idea, but I love it! Carole and Jude are back as amateur sleuths trying to figure out exactly what happened at the "fiasco house" and frankly still trying to figure out each other. Some of my favorite parts of this series truly are the friendship between Carole and Jude and the other wonderful characters in the community.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Severn House for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 21st Fethering Mystery, but the first that I have read. I never felt like it hurt my understanding or enjoyment of the story because I had not read any of the previous books. The author did an excellent job of providing any necessary background. The story is set in the small English village of Fethering. The main characters are neighbors Jude and Carole, who have very different personalities. Jude is more of a free spirit, whose occupation is healing and alternative therapies. This lifestyle is shocking to her more traditionalist neighbor, Carole, who is more set in her ways and often grumpy. This odd couple are unlikely friends, but a great pair of amateur detectives. The story begins as Jude is having her sitting room painted and hires local decorator Pete. She and Pete meet to discuss plans and colors at his current redecorating job, Footscrow House, an old building that has been the home of many unsuccessful businesses. This long history of failure has earned it the local name of Fiasco House. While they are talking, Pete removes a part of a wall and discovers a woman’s purse hidden inside. It proves to have belonged to Anita Garner, a young woman who mysteriously disappeared 30 years previously when Fiasco House was being used as a nursing home. Her case had been the talk of the town at the time and even made national news. This new discovery is just the thing to unite neighbors Jude and Carole in the hunt to solve the old mystery, but some in the community don’t want the past revealed. I found this to be a well written, light-heated mystery with a pair of likable and amusing protagonists. The mystery itself was engaging and full of twists and surprises. It makes me want to read more books in this series. Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I adore Simon Brett's cosy, witty crime stories including the Mrs Pargeter books and of course The Fethering Mysteries, of which this is his latest.

After Jude has her living room decorated, this indirectly leads to an old handbag being found, which is linked to a thirty year old disappearance and then, of course, to murder.

Despite being Book 21 of a series, the characters still felt fresh and as recognisable and familiar as ever. The chalk-and-cheese amateur sleuths; sensible ex Home Office employee Carole with her love of routine and faithful dog, Gulliver and charasmatic healer Jude with her colourful past. I love Carole and Jude's unlikely friendship, their shared love of solving mysteries and white wine (initially Chilean Chardonnay, changing to New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc in later stories!) despite their differences, and how this has developed throughout the books.

Other characters also make a reappearance such as Ted Crisp, the local pub owner, along with his bad jokes. While the books are described as cosy, the writing is as sharp and humorous as ever and the story intricately plotted.

While this can be read as a stand alone, I highly recommend starting with The Body on the Beach, Simon Brett's first Fethering Mystery, to fully appreciate Carole and Jude's unusual, but firm, friendship and how this has developed throughout the series.

Thanks to author, Simon Brett, publishers Severn House and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the 21st Fethering Mystery. And, like the others in the series, it is a reliable solid mystery (I’ve actually read them all). Jude and Carol, neighbors and very different personalities, are an unlikely couple of amateur detectives who decide to investigate the disappearance of a young woman 20 years ago whose handbag was discovered behind a wall during the renovation of a building.

Besides a good mystery, I really come back for several reasons. I love the relationship between Jude and Carol. It is complex and filled with ups and downs. Jude is the more go with the flow personality who works as a healer. Carol is the much more up-tight personality who is divorced and retired from the Home Office. But their differences complement each other in their investigations. I also love the lighter side of these books. Sometimes I laugh out loud and others I just smile but it is all good. I also enjoy the social commentary in the books. Fethering, the town were most of these murders occur, is the equivalent of a modern St. Mary Mead. Aristocrats don’t abound but normal people do and the observations are very telling.

Enjoy. It is a great series and I wasn’t disappointed with this installment. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.

Reading the Fethering Mysteries is like meeting up with old friends who are familiar yet always have a few surprises to impart. The discovery of a handbag belonging to someone who disappeared 30 years ago has our sleuths tracking down any leads they can. Written with a warmth and wittiness that leads people to just class these books as 'cozy' should not be allowed to detract from a murder mystery which yields a surprising result.

I await the new ones in this series with a sense of anticipation and haven't been let down yet!.

Death and the Decorator is the 21st (!!) book in the Fethering cozy mystery series by impressively prolific author Simon Brett. Released 5th July 2022 by Severn House, it's 222 pages and available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

Simon Brett is an indisputably gifted writer. He writes consistently, entertainingly, and well. All the parts of his mysteries (and they are varied and numerous) fit together and do precisely what they're meant to do. The characters are believable and well rendered albeit slightly eccentric. The dialogue works and is never clunky or awkward. This is a long running and well established series and it's always a joy to check in on Jude and Carol and revisit Fethering and the locals. This one is written around a cold case murder and soon Carole's investigating the disappearance of a young woman 30 years prior.

I found it a delightful read and despite the potentially serious subplot elements, Mr. Brett manages to imbue the whole with enough humour to make it an entertaining and quick read. North American readers should be aware that it's written in British vernacular (torch, lift, flat, etc). The plotting is well paced and engaging with a surprisingly twisty denouement and resolution. I found the ending good, but surprisingly melancholy.

The unabridged audiobook version has a run time of 6 hours and 57 minutes and is capably narrated by the author himself. Sound and production quality are high throughout.

Four stars. Really well done and one of my favo(u)rite consistently good cozy series. I'm looking forward to future installments in anticipation of a pleasant rainy afternoon's reading with a pot of tea and maybe some scones beside me.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

I have read one other instalment in this cosy crime mystery series (The Liar in the Library - book eighteen) before this one, Death and the Decorator (book twenty-one) but I'd be happy to read more. This was a good example of light-hearted amateur sleuthing that was very funny and really easy to read. Set in Fethering, a fictional Sussex village in England, I like the sleuthing duo, Carole and Jude, although they make an unlikely pair. I didn't feel lost coming in so late into this series, but I would like to go back and read some of the first books to learn about their beginnings. Simon Brett's writing style is a hit with me and there is a surprise towards the ending. All in all, I would recommend Death and the Decorator to anyone who is fond of a good cozy novel. It was witty and a great tale.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Severn House via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Another exciting outing in Fethering, with an interesting book title which gives a nod to Brett's newest series, The Decluttering Series. The latest offering is strong and teases out further secrets from Jude's past while slowly nudging Carole into more complex social situations. A new Fethering book always makes me happy!

Jude and Carole are the proverbial odd couple. In other circumstances, it’s unlikely that they’d ever be more than acquaintances – let alone a duo who have gone on to solve a number of tricky murders. They are such very different personalities – Jude is warm-hearted, open-minded and easy-going, who mostly enjoys her life; while Carole is judgemental, bitterly lonely, socially insecure and naturally secretive. What they both have in common is huge curiosity, an eye for details and inconsistencies, sharp intelligence and a drive to see that Justice is done. There have been times in this series when I find the inevitable friction between them frankly annoying, as it can get in the way of the investigation and makes me want to upend Carole’s glass of wine over her head. However, this time around, I was glad that both women were playing to their strengths.

Brett is an experienced storyteller, with the ability to craft an enjoyably complex whodunit with a satisfying number of possible suspects. And I was delighted to discover that while I’d fleetingly considered the perpetrator – it wasn’t for the right reason, or for the right crime. I love it when an author has me flicking back through the pages to discover the little clues that I’d overlooked. As well as delivering a solidly good murder mystery – I always enjoy Brett’s cutting shafts of humour, as he takes lumps out of the smug, upper middle-class residents of Fethering. All in all, if you enjoy murder mysteries set in an English village that plays with the expectations of this crowded sub-genre in an interesting way, then this one comes highly recommended. And no – you really don’t have to have read any of the former twenty books in the series to thoroughly enjoy this particular offering. While I obtained an arc of Death and the Decorator from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
9/10