Simon Brett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Simon Brett (born 1945 in Worcester Park, Surrey, England) is a prolific writer of whodunnits. Brett worked for radio and television before becoming a full-time writer in the late 1970s. He is married with three children and lives in the South of England.
Brett has written three series of detective novels (listed below). He has also written non-series novels, of which A Shock to the System (1984) is probably best known due to the filmed version starring Michael Caine as the business executive who takes revenge after being passed over for promotion.
During his career with the BBC, Brett produced the first episode of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as many episodes of cult comedy series The Burkiss Way. He is also an accomplished sitcom writer, most notably for BBC Radio 4's After Henry and No Commitments and Smelling of Roses. After Henry was later produced on television for ITV.
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[edit] Series
[edit] Charles Paris
Charles Paris is a moderately successful actor with a slight drinking problem who gets entangled in all sorts of crimes. There are seventeen novels featuring this character:
- Cast, In Order of Disappearance (1975)
- So Much Blood (1976)
- Star Trap (1977)
- An Amateur Corpse (1978)
- A Comedian Dies (1979)
- The Dead Side of the Mike (1980)
- Situation Tragedy (1981)
- Murder Unprompted (1982)
- Murder in the Title (1983)
- Not Dead, Only Resting (1984)
- Dead Giveaway (1985)
- What Bloody Man Is That? (1987)
- A Series of Murders (1989)
- Corporate Bodies (1991)
- A Reconstructed Corpse (1993)
- Sicken and So Die (1995)
- Dead Room Farce (1998)
Sicken and So Die has been adapted for radio by Jeremy Front, starring Bill Nighy as Charles Paris. It was broadcast as a four part series on BBC Radio 4 in 2006. A number of years ago, So Much Blood was also serialized; it was replayed in 2006 on BBC Radio 7.
[edit] Mrs Pargeter
Mrs Pargeter is a widow with a shadowy past who, with a little help from her dead husband's friends, is able to solve uncanny mysteries. The Mrs Pargeter novels include:
- A Nice Class of Corpse (1986)
- Mrs, Presumed Dead (1988)
- Mrs Pargeter's Package (1990)
- Mrs Pargeter's Pound of Flesh (1992)
- Mrs Pargeter's Plot (1996)
- Mrs Pargeter's Point of Honour (1999)
[edit] Fethering
Fethering is a fictitious village on England's south coast (next to Tarring). It is the place of residence of amateur sleuths Carole Seddon, a retired civil servant and her neighbour, "Jude", whose origins are obscure. Seven Fethering mysteries have been published so far, with the eighth due in March 2007:
- The Body on the Beach (2000)
- Death on the Downs (2001)
- The Torso in the Town (2002)
- Murder in the Museum (2003)
- The Hanging in the Hotel (2004)
- The Witness at the Wedding (2005)
- The Stabbing in the Stables (2006)
- Death Under the Dryer (2007)
[edit] Plays
- Murder in Play (1994)
- Mr Quigley's Revenge (1995)
- Silhouette (1998)
- The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood (1998)
- Sleeping Beauty (1999)
- Putting the Kettle on (2002)
- A Bad Dream (2005)
