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Product Description
Text for Author Bio: Simon Brett is a former radio and television comedy producer, who has been writing full-time for more than twenty years. Creator of the Charles Parks, Mrs. Pargeter and Feathering series of mysteries, his psychological thriller, A Shock to the System was filmed, starring Michael Caine. Married, with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie-style village in West Sussex, England. A rising young stage comedian, who is about to receive his professions award as Most Promising Newcomer, dies sensationally on stage at the start of his act; as he picks up the mike, he is electrocuted. Faulty wiring seems to be the cause; no one persons to blame; a verdict of death by misadventure is returned at the inquest. But Simon Bretts actor/detective, Charles Paris, who has already solved some highly complex murders in Cast in Order of Disappearance, So Much Blood and An Amateur Corpse, happens to have been in the audience. And when another member of the cast reveals the comedian checked his equipment before the performance, Charles is launched on a further fascinating puzzle.Text for Review Box: "A witty tour of the showbiz undergrowth... instantly enjoyable." Guardian
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Simon Brett is a former radio and television comedy producer, who has been writing full-time for more than twenty years. Creator of the Charles Paris, Mrs. Pargeter and Fethering series of mysteries, his psychological thriller, "A Shock to the System" was filmed, starring Michael Caine. Married, with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie-style village in West Sussex, England.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Charles Paris, everyone's favourite sleuthing actor is taking a short break by the seaside with his estranged wife Frances, and the variety show titled "Sun 'n' Funtime" in the Winter Gardens in Hunstanton seems like a good a way as any to pass the time. On the bill alongside some unknown acts like the rock group "Mixed Bathing" or the dancers called "These Foolish Things" are two acts that takes Charles' interest. One is the veteran musical hall star, Lennie Barber, and the other is up and coming comedian Bill Peaky. Charles is most interested to see Lennie perform as the last time he heard of him is was one part of the comedy duo, Barber and Pole. Interestingly Charles' party piece used to be an impression of Winkie Pole, the straight man of the double act.
Although Charles and Frances do get to see Lennie Barber perform they unfortunately don't get to see much of Bill Peaky as no sooner has the fresh faced comedian taken the stage than an electrical fault with the microphone throws poor Bill down dead.
Charles leaps into action with his detective's hat on again and as luck would have it, is given an ideal opportunity to investigate as he is then almost immediately taken on to be a Winkie Pole stand in, in the All New Barber and Pole show which should be Lennie's return to the big time.
As usual with the Charles Paris mysteries there's a rare old bunch of possible suspects for Charles to pursue. There's Bill's former agent, the preposterously named Miffy Turtle who seems just a tad more interested in Bill's wife than protecting Bill from the circling sharks of the big time agents led by Dickie Peck who we last met alongside his protégée Christopher Milton in Star Trap. We must also not forget the thetre electrician, the unstable Chox Morton and the morose comedy writer Paul Royce.
All in all it's another giggling romp around the venues inhabited by the stand up comedian and the biggest laughs are raised by Simon Brett.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
An inside look at stage life
25 July 2006
Format:Paperback
Charles Paris, amateur detective, sets out to try to unmask a killer. A comedian is electrocuted by an improperly wired microphone. No one else thinks its murder, but Charles Paris knows it. The best thing about this book is the inside look at television and stage acting. It's like being in on the inside ot this fascinating world. The book is actually quite funny as well. I enjoyed it. It is definitely in the cosy genre.
A Hit or Miss Amateur Sleuth
27 May 2010
Format:Paperback
In "A Comedian Dies" Simon Brett again proves that within the mystery genre he is a master of characterization. In Lennie Barber he creates an incisive portrait of a comedian of the old vaudeville school who had once been a headliner in act called Barber and Pole. After Wilkie Pole's death, Lenny soldiered on alone often proving that he was a brilliant comedian who could gauge an audience's mood and deliver the goods even though he was no longer much of a commercial success. A producer wants to create the old Barber and Pole sketches for today's TV audiences so Charles Paris takes on the job of being Pole, the straight man (the feed) in the old act. Brett gives an insightful analysis of comedy as the book develops with many of the old-type jokes included.
As an amateur detective in this one Charles flails around picking one suspect after another for the electrocution murder of comedian Bill Peaky. The acerbic Peaky was disliked by everyone who knew him. In a Robert Barnard or Simon Brett British mystery it's almost a tradition that the murder victim is universally despised by the other characters in the story.
Charles in his detective chores spends a lot of time drinking, and he gets most of his information in bars and pubs. Charles is now fifty, and at the beginning has reconciled with his estranged wife Frances, but as usual the reconciliation only lasts a few days. He is still saddled with Maurice, the laziest talent agent in England. He uses his solicitor friend Gerald to help him in his snooping.
This book isn't as good as some other Brett outings because Charles goes through so many false starts interviewing and accusing one suspect after the other. The case is solved when he runs out of suspects. He's too much of a hit and miss sleuth in this one. What is insightful is the comedic battle of generations, the old vaudeville masters versus the slick TV personalities with their battery of writers.
As an amateur detective in this one Charles flails around picking one suspect after another for the electrocution murder of comedian Bill Peaky. The acerbic Peaky was disliked by everyone who knew him. In a Robert Barnard or Simon Brett British mystery it's almost a tradition that the murder victim is universally despised by the other characters in the story.
Charles in his detective chores spends a lot of time drinking, and he gets most of his information in bars and pubs. Charles is now fifty, and at the beginning has reconciled with his estranged wife Frances, but as usual the reconciliation only lasts a few days. He is still saddled with Maurice, the laziest talent agent in England. He uses his solicitor friend Gerald to help him in his snooping.
This book isn't as good as some other Brett outings because Charles goes through so many false starts interviewing and accusing one suspect after the other. The case is solved when he runs out of suspects. He's too much of a hit and miss sleuth in this one. What is insightful is the comedic battle of generations, the old vaudeville masters versus the slick TV personalities with their battery of writers.
I guessed the killer right off, but that doesn't matter
1 Oct 2008
Format:Paperback
While on holiday, second-rate actor Charles Paris witnesses the apparently accidental death of up and coming comedian Bill Peaky. However, after speaking with some of Peaky's "friends", Paris comes to suspect that Peaky's death was not an accident, but murder.
If you have read any of the other books in Simon Brett's Charles Paris series of mysteries, you will already know just how easy these mysteries are to solve. It is very unusual for me not to guess the killer in one of these books within the first 50 pages, and this book was no exception (as an aside, this is not the case for all of Brett's novels, and in fact, one of Brett's non-series books, "Dead Romantic", is an excellent example of a mystery, and it kept me guessing right to the end). However, you don't read Charles Paris novels for the mystery elements. The mystery is just there to provide a structure to another story of life in the entertainment industry, and that is where Brett's strength lies. Prior to becoming a novelist, Brett worked in the entertainment industry and his stories of what it is really like are both fascinating and hilarious. In this instalment, Brett writes about stand-up comedy and comedy variety shows. The book was written in 1979, so some of the references are a bit dated, but not so much that it matters. This is one of the better Charles Paris novels.
If you have read any of the other books in Simon Brett's Charles Paris series of mysteries, you will already know just how easy these mysteries are to solve. It is very unusual for me not to guess the killer in one of these books within the first 50 pages, and this book was no exception (as an aside, this is not the case for all of Brett's novels, and in fact, one of Brett's non-series books, "Dead Romantic", is an excellent example of a mystery, and it kept me guessing right to the end). However, you don't read Charles Paris novels for the mystery elements. The mystery is just there to provide a structure to another story of life in the entertainment industry, and that is where Brett's strength lies. Prior to becoming a novelist, Brett worked in the entertainment industry and his stories of what it is really like are both fascinating and hilarious. In this instalment, Brett writes about stand-up comedy and comedy variety shows. The book was written in 1979, so some of the references are a bit dated, but not so much that it matters. This is one of the better Charles Paris novels.
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