MRS PARGETERS PLOT: A MRS PARGETER MYSTERY (Mrs. Pargeter Mysteries) - Hardcover

Brett, Simon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684837145 ISBN 13: 9780684837147

Publisher: Scribner, 1998

Synopsis

Of all Simon Brett's literary creations, none is more adored by mystery fans than the resourceful Mrs. Pargeter, the delightful, middle-aged widow whose late, lamented husband made his living in sometimes nefarious ways.
Whatever his faults - and Mrs. P. won't hear a word of them - the gentleman loved his wife with unquestioned devotion. Together, they had hoped to build their dream house on a large plot of land an hour or so from London, a task that Mrs. P. must now sadly carry on by herself.
Her builder is Concrete Jacket, one of Mr. P.'s longtime associates, who has an unfortunate history of sudden incarceration during construction jobs. But Concrete promises Mrs. P. to avoid any shenanigans that might lead to confinement and to finish the job on time.
And he just might have kept his promise, had not an inconvenient dead body turned up in the house's new wine cellar. Even more "inconvenient" for the builder, the victim had threatened Concrete and was shot with Concrete's gun.
Things look bad both for Concrete and the house. And that's not all. Mrs. Pargeter has an unwelcome roommate at the elegant Greene's Hotel in London - a monkey named Erasmus who throws wet banana on anyone foolish enough to try to remove him from the premises.
Who killed the man in the wine cellar and who dumped Erasmus in the hotel? Such questions boggle the mind, but Mrs. Pargeter is worthy of the challenge.

About this title

Review

Melita Pargeter, the genteel heroine of Simon Brett's series of whimsical cozies, is hardly your typical moll. Then again, the late Mr. Pargeter was considered (by his criminal cohorts, at least) a veritable prince among men. Now that he is gone (while his fortune lives on), Mrs. Pargeter decides to use some of her inheritance to build a country home. For such a large undertaking, Mrs. P. turns to someone she can trust, an old friend of her husband's who sports the moniker "Concrete Jacket." Despite his best intentions to keep on the straight and narrow while in Mrs. Pargeter's employ, it isn't long before Concrete finds himself in hot water when a corpse turns up in the wine cellar--to his dismay, all the evidence points to him. Before the cell door can slam behind him, the redoubtable Mrs. Pergeter is on the case, aided by the shadiest bunch of do-gooders this side of Robin Hood's Merry Men. Good writing, hilarious plot twists, and great characters make Mrs.Pargeter's Plot loads of fun.

About the Author

Simon Brett worked as a producer in radio and television before taking up writing full-time. He is the author of the much-loved Fethering mysteries, Charles Paris series and the Mrs Pargeter novels. In 2014 he was awarded the Crime Writers' Association's prestigious Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence and contribution to crime writing, and in 2016 was awarded an OBE for his services to literature. He lives in an Agatha Christie-style village in the South Downs.

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0684837145
• ISBN 13: 9780684837147
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256