Customer Reviews

BLOOD AT THE BOOKIES: THE FETHERING MYSTERIES

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In Fethering, England, Jude takes the bets of flu ailing nonagenarian Harold Peskett to the local betting shop. While there she notices a young man stumbling before he leaves the parlor. Soon afterward, she finds him lying dead in an alley. She later learns the victim was Polish immigrant Tadeusz Jankowski who was in town studying music at nearby Clincham University.

Jude tells her stuffy but sick neighbor Carole Seddon, who is recovering from the flu. Unable to resist they begin to investigate as "amateur sleuth old biddies". When his sister Zofia arrives from Poland, she encourages Jude to keep looking into who killed her brother and why; she does think Tadeusz was in love, but she does not know with whom. With no clues, the pair keeps on digging while the killer watches their every move.

The Fethering amateur sleuths are consistently some of the most entertaining (see latest Fethering caper (see DEATH UNDER THE DRYER, THE BODY ON THE BEACH and THE STABBING IN THE STABLES). The latest one holds up that tradition as an enjoyable whodunit that showcases the social world of the betting club and somewhat the non acceptance of foreign students in England. Carole is at her best as she struggles with just entering the bet shop and with seeking her new granddaughter if that means seeing her ex. Jude escorts Carole to places she would never dared go before. Cozy fans will appreciate the newest tour of Fethering.

Harriet Klausner

I really, really enjoyed most of the books in the Fethering series. Brett has a very easy to read style and I do like the main characters however, the first half of this book was really dull. The second half picks up and is up to par (with the other titles). I don't believe in giving anything away in reviews. I'll only say go ahead and read it but be patient it will improve half way through.

Simon Brett continues to provide ideal entertainment for those who like reading mystery fiction. His prose is supple, the dialogue lively, the characterisation convincing, and the settings varied and well-sketched. "Blood at the Bookies" is the latest escapade involving Fethering neighbours Carol and Jude.

It is Jude that finds herself in an unlikely situation. She is in a betting shop. She is there to place a bet for an elderly house-bound neighbour. It is a new experience for Jude and she is sharply observant. She notices a young man enter the shop. Dressed in an overcoat and looking ill, he staggers out apparently unnoticed. Jude, however, sees that he leaves a trail of blood. She follows the trail, finds the young man collapsed in a nearby alley and hears his dying words. Thus Jude and her neighbour Carol have yet another opportunity to investigate a crime.

The investigation moves steadily forward, each move providing (perhaps too neatly) a pointer to the next move. Whether or not you guess how it will all end before it does, you will enjoy the good hunt that Simon Brett provides.

Jude and Carole are delighted when a young Polish man is murdered in their small English town and Jude is the first to find his body. They can sleuth around and find the killer, perhaps even before the police do. So, Jude and Carole set out to track down clues. Why, exactly, did Tadeusz Jankowski wander into a betting shop as he was dying? Who was the mysterious woman he'd been seen talking to at that same betting shop some months before? More ominously, what happened to the guitar and CDs that young musician kept with him at all times which don't show up in the police list of items? Finally, what was his connection to the local college? It's enough to keep Jude and Carole happily investigating for weeks.

Jude and Carole quickly learn that not everyone is especially sympathetic. Prejudice against immigrants from Eastern Europe runs strong in small-town England. The two track down one suspect after another and both meet men who raise some distinct feelings although neither believes anything serious can come of it.

Author Simon Brett writes convincingly of small-town England. The pubs, the local bigotry, the snobishness of those who attended 'public schools,' and the characters in the betting shop all come through clearly. His sleuths, Jude and Carole, in contrast, don't do as well. Their motive for involving themselves doesn't seem to justify their actions. The two are quick to jump to conclusions (both about suspects and about one another) that are both unwarranted and silly. And ultimately, all of their work isn't really necessary as the police would have discovered the killer perfectly well without their involvement. BLOOD AT THE BOOKIES is readable and there's a lot going for it, but the unsympathetic protagonists make it hard for me to recommend this mystery very highly.