Customer Reviews

The Witness at the Wedding: A Fethering Mystery

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The sublime joy of reading another well written and absolutely riveting British "cozy" should never ever be underestimated -- and I really cannot fully express what a joy it was to read Simon Brett's latest Fethering installment, "The Witness at the Wedding."

While Carole Seddon is pleased about the approaching wedding of her son, Stephen, to the effervescent and capable Gaby Martin, she's not too terribly keen on their notion to marry in Fethering. And her feelings of reservation and disquiet grow even larger when she finally meets Gaby's parents, the reserved and drab Howard and Marie Martin, who have eschewed all involvement in planning Gaby's wedding and who seem absolutely horrified about Stephen's desire to place an announcement about the upcoming wedding in the newspapers. What are the Martins so afraid of? But when Howard Martin is found murdered in a manner reminiscent of one committed 30 years ago, Carole is sure that there is something in the Martins' past that is haunting them and may have set off a dangerous chain of events. The Martins, however, are good at guarding their secrets, and Carole senses that it is not going to be easy to get them to open up. Determined to help Stephen and Gaby achieve their happily ever-after ending, Carole decides to do some sleuthing of her own -- of course with the help of her friend and neighbour, the inestimable Jude...

Fan though I am of this series, I will admit that not every installment has been an absolutely riveting read. Which was why I found "The Witness at the Wedding" to be such a pleasure. To being with the storyline was a truly tantalising one -- a murder that had been committed about 30 years ago and that's still affecting those concerned. And then there was the pacing -- Simon Brett did a fantastic job of subtly layering on the suspense, even as he maintained the even pacing. And then of course there was the well developed and defined characters -- I especially liked that Carole is still the same prickly and slightly prejudiced character that she was when the series first started. Of course she has changed slightly for the better, but in essentials she's still very much the same Carole Seddon here as she was in the first Fethering mystery, "The Body on the Beach."

In all I spent a wonderful afternoon wrapped up in this book, and would recommend to anyone who's looking for a nice British "cozy" to sit down and curl up with.

While Carole Seddon is thrilled that her son, Stephen, is to be married to his girlfriend, Gaby, she is puzzled by the way in which Gaby's parents, Marie and Howard Martin seem to want to keep the event as low key as possible. Marie is a pale, wan creature with a habit of fainting if the slightest thing disturbs her. Following the couple's engagement party, Howard is picked up in a strange car which is found the next day, burned out and with his body inside. The Martin family is found to have connections to another murder which was carried out in just the same way, 30 years before, with the accused man having just been released after serving his full sentence. Carole delves into the secrets of this strange family with the help of her friend and neighbour, Jude, and uncovers murky pasts for several members of the family. It was an ok read, but not a book to keep me up into the small hours.

This was an odd book -- a combination of a lower quality Anita Brookner novel about the life of a lonely middle age woman with a poor mystery, with only one, obvious suspect. It has convinced me to give up on this series because, despite my best hopes, it is just not going to get better. Brett writes the same book over and over again. Emotionally constipated Carole and free spirit/prospective saint Jude team up to solve not too complex mysteries out of seeming sheer boredom. Despite the fact that one, or both, of our heroines contiually find themselves in life threatening danger, they perpetually fail to seek the intervention of the police or seek help. As a minor spoiler, at one point in the book, with a dangerous killer on the loose, one of the women fears she is being watched, but does nothing to help herself, not alerting the police or the other "detective". If she did so then, of course, there would be no supposedly exciting conclusion.

I was a fan of the Charles Paris series, which Brett seemingly wisely stopped writing after turning Charles into an increasingly pathetic, unlikeable character. I also liked the Mrs. Pargeter series, which Brett also gave up after the one-joke nature of the series turned stale. Brett took up those flaws in this series, turning Carole into an unlikeable, sad character, who the author seems to detest. By contrast, Jude is portrayed as a noble goddess, insightful, wise, witty, etc, a view probably shared only by the author, especially as Jude. aware of Carole's emotional shortcomings, seems to take every opportunity to tortue and tease her "friend" by not revealing aspects of her life about which Carole is too emotionally constrained to ask about. The first two or three books were mildly diverting, and I read on hoping for an improvement, which did not occur. Instead, the same type of story has just been churned out again and again. Perhaps Carole can now hook up with Charles Paris, where they can live unhappily ever after.

If the mystery was stronger, that would carry the book, but unfortunately Brett seems barely concerned with the whodunit aspects of the story. Indeed, to accomplish some of his more absurd elements, he makes sure that both of the heroines do not have the internet or know how to access the web, which, for example, enables them to act baffled when they seem confused as to how to find out details about a well known murder, a plot contrivance which is highly unrealistic.

Sorry for spending so much time reviewing this book, but if I can keep one propspective reader from wasting their time like I did, then I accomplished something.

The premise for this story is what makes it worth reading: Carole Seddon's son, Stephen, is marrying into a rather odd family. Pascale's (Gaby's) parents don't even want there to be a wedding announcement . . . and they definitely don't want to be involved in the wedding planning. Stephen has also let drop that there's a history of murder in the family.

Most authors would stop at this point by having chilled us a bit with thoughts about whom our children might marry. Simon Brett charges gleefully forward by making the wedding preparations into a murderers' playground. As a result, you'll find yourself much more emotionally involved than in the typical Fethering mystery.

The mystery itself isn't all that hard to unravel, but the book's premise will keep your attention throughout. It's a dandy way to overturn the conventions of wedding stories.

With the wedding plans taking center stage, there's less than the usual byplay and interaction between Carole and Jude. They operate pretty independently of one another in this book, in part because Jude has a depressed friend (Gita) visiting who is pressed into the investigation.

I thought that many of the wedding preparation sequences were pretty funny, especially the engagement party hosted by Gaby's parents. If you've ever felt awkward at such an event, you'll roar when you read some of these scenes.

I love this series and eagerly grabbed this book as soon as it became available.

Carole's son Stephen is getting married. Carole is surprised and a little annoyed at first (after all, she's happy being a recluse and isn't thrilled at the prospect of being the Mother of the Groom and the wedding duties that she'll inevitably have to be involved in). But once she meets Stephen's lovely girlfriend Gaby and grows closer to Stephen, she finds herself acquiring the maternal instinct she never had before. (Wow, is Carole actually thawing out??)

It's that maternal instinct that prompts her - along with trusty sidekick and New Age neighbor Jude - to find out why Gaby seems so distracted and why her family is being elusive and jumpy.

The mystery itself is interesting and well planned, and there are a few heart stopping moments towards the end.

Overall, this is a great installment in the series.

Simon Brett serves up another pleasing cozy with THE WITNESS AT THE WEDDING. Carole is willing to endure spending time in the company of her ex-husband as her son Stephen is getting married to his friend Gabby Martin. Things are odd, why are the Martins so willing to let the mother of the groom handle the details of the wedding? Why are they making every effort to keep this major event in their daughter's life under the hatches.
The mystery deepens as the father of the bride disappears and is found brutally murdered. Who are these people with whom Stephen is about to be connected? Carole turns to her friend Jude to discover why a killer stalked the wedding.
A fun read for a June night.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.

I like the work of Simon Brett I've read so far, this being the first Fethering Mystery. I thought Carole and Jude were believably portrayed, with human flaws, foibles, and all--particularly Carole. Not sure I'd want to spend any more time with Carole, though...she is a bit depressing, and if's that what life is like for a middle-aged divorcee, heck, might as well end it now. I did LOVE the description of her relationship with her pathetic ex-husband (erm). I also enjoyed the excursion to France to see Grand'mere. A bit more explanation (for readers coming into the series at this point) as to why Carole and Jude do this sleuthing would have helped make sense of their involvement/interference.
The mystery was so-so, suspenseful enough to keep me turning the pages, but not so exciting that I could read it for hours on end at a time. ///POSSIBLE SPOILER///
I suspected the real perp before the great revelation, and the climax when Carole is in danger didn't cause me undue alarm. The ending was a bit contrived.
All in all, a decent plot and some perceptive observations.

This is the first book by author that I've read, and I was quite impressed. I really enjoyed the strong characters. They seem like real people, especially main characters Jude and Carol. Also, the story was compelling and well-told. There may be a couple plot holes, but fortunately the ending proved satisfying.

I was also quite pleased that there was no excessive violence or gore. In addition, the plot was believable and had no outlandish, unbelievable moments. I'm now eager to read other books in this series.

I've now read about five books in this series. I like Mr. Brett's style of writing. One can actually figure out the mysteries (no red herrings thrown in). There's not alot of repeating as in other series. I highly recommend this series. They are easy to read and the characters are always likeable.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot was interesting and the characters are different. Simon Brett has created two women neighbors/friends/sleuths who completely different from one another, and I enjoy reading about them.