A Nice Class of Corpse (Isis Series) [Audio Cassette]

Simon Brett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1993 | Series: Isis Series

Brett introduces Melita Pargeter, his newest detective. Melita is a rich and vivacious widow whose mystery-solving talents come in handy when a murderer stalks a hotel for retirees. "An amusing caper . . . Mr. Brett is in top form".--The New York Times Book Review.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The British author's new mystery features Mrs. Pargeter, an amiable and rich widow who rivals Brett's Charles Paris as an appealing amateur sleuth. This continually surprising, witty story starts with Mrs. Pargeter moving into a "nice" hotel for "nice" elderly men and women. They conduct themselves according to a routine set by the prim owner, but which the new guest ignores. Interested in and curious about everyone in the place, Mrs. Pargeter ponders events following the fatal fall of one harmless old lady and the odd behavior of another. The forthright widow asks questions and gets answers that uncover startling facts about both the innocent and the guilty. Subtle hints on the source of the late Mr. Pargeter's fortune, a legacy to his beloved, add to the story's neat twists. Mystery Guild alternate.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Isis Audio (June 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1850897557
• ISBN-13: 978-1850897552
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,809,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Modernised cosy, May 29, 2002

By 

F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nice Class of Corpse, A (Mass Market Paperback)

Mrs Melita Partridge,a regular series creation of Mr Brett,has been called a kind of anti-Miss Marple and I can see what is being hinted at for while cast in the same fictional mould of the elderly lady snoop she is some way away from being the cosy old grandmother type who inhabit the closed world of British crime novels with a genteel setting

For one thing her late husband was a burglar and she has retained contacts with the criminal elements albeit not the more thuggish elements

Events are centred around the Devereux Hotel in Littlehampton(a town whose name is guaranted to evoke scholboyish sniggers from any Englishman given the smutty overtones it conveys)It is a residential hotel with nought but permanent residents.Residents begin dying,ostensibly accidently but we as readers are made privy to the thoughts of the murderer,for indeed the crimes are murder.The body count begins to mount while Mrs P pursues her investigations with a little help from her criminal friends.

The residents are nicely differentiated one from the other -the haughty aristocrat fallen on hard times,the fading actress,the conventional military man and his dim friend etc

The title is deeply significant for the book has the subtext of class.The hotel proprietor is obsessed by it as are some of the residents

An enjoyable light read but short of top drawer crime writing this is more for those who like crime fiction as divertissement rather than having any cutting edge

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Start of Something Special, February 4, 2011

By 

Jimmie A. Lindsey "msjimmie" (Highlandville, MO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nice Class of Corpse, A (Mass Market Paperback)

Really fun read, typical British Cozy. Was the first book in a 6 book series, a great set up for a very enjoyable ride. Lots of twists and turns, very endearing "retired" villians, with Mrs. P using the inheritance of her late "mastermind businessman" husband to solve unjustice. Just Plain FUN!