5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
the best of the series, so far..., October 10, 2002
Of the three Feathering mysteries so far, I liked "The Torso in the Town" best. And not because the mystery at hand was a more complex or intriguing one that had me breathlessly turning the pages until I reached the denouncement at the end of the book, but rather because of the three, this was the one in which we get to really appreciate the differing personalities of Carole Seldon and Jude, as well as to appreciate the friendship that has sprung up between them.
Carole Seldon is suffering from the after effects of the end of her love affair with pub owner, Ted Crisp, and she's depressed. And she's also begun to slide back to her former reclusive and reserved ways; enough so that her friend and neighbour, Jude, is quite concerned about her. So that when at a dinner party at Pelling House (in Fedborough, a neighbouring town to Feathering), the discovery of a mummified torso is made in the basement of the house, Jude naturally feels that the solving of this latest mystery is exactly what Carole needs in order to work her way out of her depression. Trying to figure the identity of the torso, when the body was secreted in the basement, and who the possible murderer could be is a sure fire way to get anyone out of the doldrums. And thanks to Jude's relationship with the current owners of Pelling House, and Carole's tenuous one with one of the previous owners, the pair are sure that they will make some headway in figuring out who killed whom and why...
"The Torso in the Town" proved to be a really enjoyable read. The joy to be gleaned from this novel, however, was not from the mystery at hand. On the whole, the mystery took quite a while to unfold, and Jude and Carole did spend a lot of time circling around the same few points over and over again. No, the joy to be gleaned form this novel came from the manner in which Simon Brett brought the character and flavour of these two small river towns, and all the colourful characters that inhabited them to life. I especially enjoyed Brett's social commentary on the changing times and the petty preoccupations and foibles of several characters. But what I enjoyed most (and what really pulled this novel together) was watching Jude's and Carole's friendship deepen and grow stronger, and watching Carole "thaw" out of her rigid mold.
For mystery buffs who enjoy samll town cozies, "The Torso in the Town" is a read that should not be missed.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dinner Party Conversation: Be Sure You Get the Joke, March 1, 2007
One of my best friends is always asking me for new stories he can tell. He loves to use stories to entertain those at the right and left of him at dinner parties. Presumably, if he had actually attended the dinner party that opens up this book, he would never again need another story.
The Torso in the Town is the third Fethering mystery featuring Carole Seddon (mid-fifties divorced, retired Home Office bureaucrat) and her relatively new neighbor Jude (an alternative healer who has no obvious source of income of about the same age). Carole is sedate, introverted, and concerned about appearances. Jude is a full-tilt boogier, loves people, and cannot wait to get involved in whatever is going on. They share a love of solving local mysteries, especially murders, as amateurs.
One of the charms of this series comes in the clever plots that Simon Brett puts together to allow Carole and Jude to get at the facts to make their discoveries. In this case, Jude has been invited to have dinner with old acquaintances who have recently moved to Fedborough, just up the river Fether from Fethering where Carole and Jude live. Before the meal is done, her hosts' son races up to announce that he's found a body in the basement. In rummaging around behind a wall, the boy had located an old box . . . from which dropped a shriveled human torso. Talk about dropping your turkey on the floor in front of your guests on Thanksgiving!
Carole, meanwhile, is licking her wounds after her brief relationship with local pub keeper, Ted Crisp. She feels embarrassed and doesn't want to be seen. This makes Carole even more standoffish than usual. Jude's story of the torso helps Carole ooze out of her hurting shell. It turns out that Carole had recently been consulting an interior decorator who used to live in the home where the torso was found. Carole finds it easy to drop by and find out what she can learn.
From there, the complications are quite humorous as Carole and Jude become Fedborough's newest odd couple in the eyes of the locals. Initial connections lead to pubs, more drinks, a timely dinner invitation, and lots of gossip about who has done what to whom in the past. Carole and Jude also recruit unlikely assistants (including the boy who found the torso) before the book is over.
The ending will probably not surprise you, but it presents far nicer questions of "what if" than most mysteries develop. I liked the ending best of the three books so far in the series. The ironies are pretty entertaining for those who love irony.
This book has a special treat in it for those who have wanted to know what Jude's last name is: You get two clues via the post man.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great "cosy", August 19, 2003
As an example of a small-scale British mystery, a "cosy," this and the others in this new series are first rate. I thoroughly enjoyed them all and recommend all of them.
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