Book 2. in this series by Simon Brett, featuring once again, retired Home Office employee, Carole Seddon and her next-door-neighbour, Jude. Incidentally, Carole still does not know Jude's surname and is no closer to knowing a great deal about Jude than she was when they first met. Carole is out for a bit of a hill walk/ramble in the nearby village in Weldisham, when she takes shelter from heavy rain in a derelict barn and discovers two bags of human bones. Now, as lightening is known to strike twice and this being the second time Carole has discovered a dead body, she immediately phones the police to report what she has found and is in a state of shock at finding herself in the center of what seems to be a murder, yet again. Jude is just returning from a 2 week break and when Carole tells her about what has happened, she learns that Jude is a new age healer, who has been treating a girl from the village and whose name has come up as a possible victim. So, with this link established, it's not long before the ladies find themselves investigating the mystery and getting themselves into some spots of bother. Carole is certainly coming out of her shell in this story and also finds she has two male admirers, which she can't seem to fathom. These are light enough reads and thoroughly entertaining, so I could certainly recommend them if you want a break from the more serious/heavy stuff.
**edited 01/27/14There are some mystery stories that you treat like a puzzle: you guess and deduct and try to figure out who the criminal and motive and method are. And when you get to the end, you either feel incredibly smug or quite foolish, because it all seems obvious in retrospect. And then there are others where it just doesn't matter, because the mystery is just the framing for the story. Simon Brett's books fall into the latter case. All of the Fethering books that I have read follow precisely the same pattern: the two main characters poke around, they don't end up figuring out who the villain is, one stupidly steps into the villain's hands and is captured and subjected to monologuing, and the other comes to the rescue. But you know what? I don't care, because the books are just too much fun....Due to my disapproval of GR's new and highly subjective review deletion policy, I am no longer posting full reviews here.The rest of this review can be found on Booklikes.
What do You think about Death On The Downs (2001)?
2nd in the Carole Seddon series (which I've decided I really enjoy), this installment finds our heroine once again finding a body. This time, actually, she stumbles into a barn in a neighboring town where she is walking her dog Gulliver; it's raining and she seeks shelter. Carole sits down to rest and as she's looking around, she sees what appears to be a bag of bones bundled together. Remembering from her last episode that she shouldn't wait to phone the police, she does so immediately. It turns out the bones belong to a woman in her 30s to 40s; so of course her curious nature makes her seek out clues that lay within the village where the barn is located. This time, though, she gets too close to the killer who thought his secrets were buried.Fun, easy read when you need a break. If you like British mysteries, this will be a good addition to your reading pile!
—Nancy Oakes
Almost incredible to think this pedestrian series is written by the clever author of the Charles Paris mysteries. The actual mysteries are quite well developed, the reader is unlikely to get ahead of the author. But the telling! Dull,not droll, draggy. Despite the two potentially interesting lead characters, of whom Brett makes little, despite the verbiage. Hmm. Wonder how he managed that? This was in a double volume with the first Fethering mystery, The Body on the Beach, which was marginally preferrable. I basically needed something to get me through a lousy time, with no challenges, and this did that very well.
—Michelle L
Another adventure from the village of Fethering featuring the odd couple of sleuths, Carol Seddon and her friend, Jude. Carol stumbles on some bones in a barn while sheltering from a storm. She has to try to find out who the bones belonged to and, unfortunately, who murdered the victim. This sets up the amateur detective scenario in which the two friends bumble into the clues and then the solution. The book is charming because of the characters and environment. The mystery is just the vehicle to propel us through the charming village of Fethering and the Weldisham Downs. While the mystery is interesting, the lives of the main characters is what brings me back to these books, that and the probably non-existent village life of the English countryside.
—Anne Hawn Smith
