Murder in the Museum

The latest in Brett's Fethering mysteries involves the discovery of a skeleton buried ninety years ago and a murder that occurs during the course of the novel. This quiet mystery features Carole Seddon and her neighbor, Jude, who have combined on other occasions to solve crimes. Geoffrey Howard's rendering is satisfactory, with small, almost undetectable, distinctions among the English characters' voices. The voice of the female American academic does not come across as authentic--at first sounding like that of a New York taxi driver and subsequently wavering between a more subtle New York accent and one that is indistinguishable from those of the English characters. Overall however, Howard narrates with clarity and pacing that suits the gentle nature of the writing. S.S.R. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

July 28, 2003
In Brett's fourth chatty, genteel Fethering mystery (after 2002's The Torso in the Town), Carole Seddon finds herself a member of the Bracketts Trust, which is responsible for the upkeep of Bracketts, former home of West Sussex litterateur Esmond Chadleigh. Tension arises between the Trust's new director, Gina Locke, who represents the new world of "management structures," and former trustee Sheila Cartwright, who's from the old school of local volunteers. While they wrangle over Bracketts's future, a skeleton turns up in the garden. Though it's obviously been there a long time, Sheila does her best to keep this disturbing find quiet. When a female American academic shows up to research a new biography of Chadleigh, she's stonewalled by the Trust's dawdling biographer-elect and grandson of the author, Graham Chadleigh-Bewes. Clearly something more than mere footnotes is being concealed. Eager to ferret out the truth, the uptight Carole is unable to rely on her usual partner-in-detection, the liberated Jude Nichols, since Jude is looking after a dying former lover. At times, subtle character interaction, at which Brett excels, threatens to take over the novel, but the mystery gathers steam after another, fresher body appears. Even Jude and lover have a part to play in its resolution, and Brett provides a shocking revelation or two at the end to bring a proper ending to a proper story.

Simon Brett is unique in the audio world in that he can both write an engaging mystery AND narrate it in a convincing fashion. (Before becoming a full-time writer, Brett had a successful career in broadcasting.) In this adventure retired civil servant Carole Seddon struggles with the secrets of the Chadleigh family, whose Elizabethan home is about to become a museum honoring the literary efforts of a second-rate early-twentieth-century poet. Simon Brett captures the very souls of the characters and makes them vividly real for listeners. His only faulty portrayal is that of the American professor, whose accent is never quite right. Listeners will find the quirky characters interesting and even the meetings of the board of trustees for the museum a source of clues. D.L.G. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine