So Much Blood: Charles Paris Series, Book 2 (A Charles Paris Mystery) [Kindle Edition]

It's summer 1974 and the second in the series of Charles Paris murder mysteries takes our hero into the midst of the Edinburgh Festival, where he has been asked to perform his one-man show detailing the poems and puns of Thomas Hood. The invitation has arrived from D.U.D.S, Derby University Dramatic Society, after an unfortunate accident to one of their company.

Charles is being hosted in Coates Gardens where he not only meets other members of the party from D.U.D.S, but also the landlord James Milne, who the actors refer to as The Laird. Charles strikes up an easy going friendship with James which includes many a late night sipping malt whisky and discussing the world, especially when tragedy strikes for a second time when the former pop-star member of the cast for Mary Queen of Sots (sic), Willy Mariello is killed in a mistake over a fake dagger. The unfortunate person holding the dagger at the time is Martin Warburton, a frail disturbing young man, who seems to have a secret to keep as he seen roaming around Edinburgh in various disguises.

Still it's not all sleuthing for Charles, who not only having his show very well received by the fringe press has also managed to woo one of D.U.D.S leading ladies, the young and beautiful Anna Duncan, although the beautiful charms of young Anna have also attracted the attention of Charles' friend we met in the first book, the solicitor Gerald Venables.

Mind you this is not the only lady in Charles' life at this moment, as estranged wife Frances makes another appearance and the "odd couple" have a reconciliation of sorts as they take a holiday together at the end of the book.

Again, the book is high on the wit and pun stakes and as with other Charles Paris books you get the feeling there is many a swipe at real life characters from the world of the stage. It's all good fun though and the setting of Edinburgh does give the book an extra lust for life.

I'll cut to the chase: I love Charles Paris. So the fact that the earlier books were nearly all out of print by the time i got to them made me almost pathetically grateful to see them finally becoming available on Kindle. If you're familiar with the brilliantly updated adaptations on BBC Radio then you are in for a further treat.

The Bill Nighey character on radio is a louche, cynical old child of the 60s. However as the books begin in the early 70s you'll understand that the print version is a different sort of animal altogether. So imagine a place called the 1970s; a time when you needed a pile of 2p pieces to stay in touch by phone, a time before videos, multichannel TV, internet searches and a time when struggling actors could afford to live in Notting Hill. Paris is a borderline alchoholic actor who is struggling to stay in a thankless profession. He's probably a bit more of a Daily Telegraph reader than the radio version and probably follows cricket more than football. He's estranged from his wife Frances but a combination of guilt and fear of being alone means they never quite divorce. He also has a solid moral core which, coupled with a fearless curiosity, means he often reluctantly ends up investigating a murder. My advice here is as follows: Never spend a weekend in the country with Miss Marple, never buy a house in Midsomer and never EVER get cast in a play with Charles Paris! Your insurance premiums will rocket.

In this book it is 1974 and Paris has hitched his wagon to a student theatre company to present a one man show about Thomas Hood. When one of the company is killed Charles refuses to believe it's an accident and once again he falls into his sideline of amateur sleuth. Needless to say it's a book of its time. For some reason nubile young students become instantly attracted to an impoverished actor in his 50s (I call this the "Reg Varney in On The Buses" conundrum) and, like the other books, we get treated to some chaste New English Library style sex scenes. We also get a whiff of the politics of the time: Trade Unions are fearsomely powerful and gay people still have to conduct their private lives undercover.

If you're after a deep psychological thriller then look elsewhere. Paris is a troubled man but isn't plagued by existential angst and none of his problems cannot be resolved by a good acting job, a warm bed or a large Bells. In terms of plotting and character it's probably nearer to New Tricks than Andrew Vachss and none the worse for that.

Did I mention that the books are also laugh out loud funny and a fine satire on the acting profession with all its vices?

My one criticism isn't levelled at Simon Brett or his wonderful books, it's at Amazon. Yes the books are stonkingly good value and a great read but they'd be even greater if they paid someone to properly proof read and format them. So far there have been howling typos as a result of bad scanning where 'I' is repeatedly printed as '1' and fonts go from microdot to large print. Yes they are great value but I'd have paid a little more if I knew they had been properly prepared for publication. Sort it out.

This is the second of the umpteen Charles Paris books. Like the first it works really well as a mystery and if all you want out of a whodunnit book is some interesting situations, enough characters and possibilities to keep you guessing then this has all that.

Personally I like the character of Paris, and I appreciate how it doesn't out-stay its welcome but I'd like a little more from it. Also feels a bit dated now.