Publisher's Weekly Review
In Brett's delightful 12th Fethering mystery (after 2010's The Shooting in the Shop), shy, retiring Carole Seddon is dismayed to find that someone has lit a fire under the beach hut that she's rented from a friend, Philly Rose, in the West Sussex village of Smalting. Even more disturbing is the subsequent discovery of human remains under the beach hut. Suspicion falls on Philly, whose boyfriend recently walked out on her, but Carole and her best friend, Jude, have plenty of other members of the Smalting Beach Hut Association to investigate, including its president, Reginald Flowers, a naval aficionado who never served before the mast; Lionel Oliver, a retired undertaker; and Deborah Wrigley, a wealthy widow with a well-earned reputation for being obnoxious. Cozy fans will enjoy Brett's usual deft character portrayal and humorous take on the social foibles of England's upper set. (Nov.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Blood at the Bookies, 2008, etc.), but fans, perhaps fortified by swigs of Chilean Chardonnay, probably won't mind. ]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Brett's Fethering mysteries conceal incisive send-ups of social climbing under the guise of the traditional cozy. The latest in the series rips open a Restoration comedy's worth of social pretensions when a body is found under the floorboards of a tiny seaside hut in the neighboring West Sussex village of Smalting, whose inhabitants consider themselves far more posh than their neighbors in Fethering. In a nice (and necessary for the mystery) touch, one of Brett's two accidental sleuths, Carole Seddon, retired from the Home Office and very, very proper, is suspicious of the disturbed carpet and flooring in the beach hut she's borrowing. (Carole's fellow amateur sleuth is her much-looser-in-every-way friend, Judy.) Of course, Carole soon peers beneath the flooring and finds human remains (remains follow this duo with unlikely but comic regularity). And, of course, Carole and Jude supplement police efforts at discovering the identity of the body and the murderer, proving altogether more efficient than the professionals. As always, Brett delivers a cozy that is both suspenseful and laugh-out-loud funny.--Fletcher, Connie Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Following The Shooting in the Shop, this tenth entry in the satiric cozy series involves human remains found at the beach. Amateur sleuths Carole and Jude dig in. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
