West End TV are planning a new sit-com series called The Strutters and Charles Paris has landed the role of a golf club barman. But when, one by one, members of the production crew start falling victim to mysterious 'accidents', Paris finds himself on the trail of a mass murderer.

Who killed Marcus Steen, the theatrical tycoon with a fortune to leave to his young mistress Jacqui? And who killed Bill Sweet, the shady blackmailer with a supply of compromising photographs? Charles Paris, a middle-aged actor addicted to booze and women, decides to investigate by assuming a variety of roles, among them that of the mythical Detective Sergeant McWhirter. But, as Paris is about to discover only too painfully, impersonating a police officer is never a good idea.

During a period of 'resting', actor Charles Paris takes on a job as a house painter. Arriving for work at the flat above a fashionable Holland Park restaurant, he discovers the mutilated body of chef Yves Lafeu. It would appear to be an open-and-shut case. Yves' business partner Tristram Gowers caught the night boat to France within hours of a spectacular public quarrel with Yves, and has now disappeared. But is there more to it than that? Charles Paris determines to find out.

Joining the cast of a musical loosely based on She Stoops to Conquer, actor/detective Charles Paris is soon regretting his decision, irked as he is by the odious theatre and television star who is backing, producing and starring in the show. But when rehearsals are hampered by a strange series of mishaps, including the rehearsal pianist being shot in the hand and an actor falling and breaking his leg, Paris investigates and quickly decides that the star himself is responsible. But why would he want to sabotage his own show? The answer is much more human than it first appears.

Murder at the BBC? It's almost unimaginable. But when Andrea Gower, the beautiful studio manager, is found murdered, actor/detective Charles Paris, having originally come to Broadcasting House to give a talk, finds himself wallowing through layers of BBC scandal to uncover a complicated fraud—with clues concealed in seemingly innocent announcements. What he is about to discover will very nearly lead to the end of Mr Paris.

When Carole goes for a hair trim at Connies Clip Joint, she doesnt expect to find herself at the scene of a murder. But sure enough in the backroom, strangled by the cord of a hairdryer, sits Connies young assistant, Kyra. Whilst Carole and her sleuthing friend Jude enjoy some tactical snooping, Fethering fingers are pointing firmly at Kyras boyfriend, Nathan, who has disappeared. But Nathans family are also acting rather oddlywhilst convinced of Nathans innocence, they don’t seem so certain that he is actually missing. Meanwhile Connies ex-husband Martin, co-owner of the rival hairdressing chain Martin & Martina, appears to have been quite the ladies man with his young assistants, including Kyra herself. Could he have silenced her before she divulged his sordid secret and potentially ruined his career? As our discreet lady detectives decide there are only so many haircuts they can have for the sake of neighbourhood crime solving, so too do they realise this is no cut and dry case, and that some people will stop at nothing to keep their private lives concealed…

The curse of Pharaoh Sinus Nefertop is upon Blotto so it's up to Twinks to banish it!Yet another financial crisis at Tawcester Towers! So this time the Dowager Duchess decides to sell off the less important family possessions, which have, for a long time, been consigned to the attics of the ancestral home.Blotto and Twinks are dispatched to help the valuer as he carries out an inspection. Not much of any worth is found but then the valuer spies some Egyptian artifacts, collected by the tenth duke, Rupert the Egyptologist. In some excitement he rushes back to London to consult his reference books, leaving Blotto and Twinks alone in the attic, where they are drawn to a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: 'Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse...' - just as Blotto prises the lid off.From that moment on a series of unpleasant incidents start happening at Tawcester Towers but it is only when the Dowager Duchess's precious pug is struck down with a stomach bug that she instructs her son to sort things out and stop the accelerating sequence of disasters.It's the brainy Twinks who decides the only thing to be done is to put the genie back in the bottle and so she, together with Blotto and their trusty chauffeur Corky Froggett, undertake to take the sarcophagus back to Egypt, to the Valley of the Kings as only when this is done will the effect of the Pharoah's curse be lifted...About the AuthorBorn in 1945, Simon Brett was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he gained a First Class Honours degree in English. A great many of his published works are crime novels, including the Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter and Feathering series. Simon was chairman of the Crime Writers Association from 1986-7 and of the Society of Authors from 1995-7. He lives near Arundel in West Sussex and is married with three grownup children, one grandson, one granddaughter, and four cats.

What’s your poison? Fethering residents, Jude and Carole, get more than they bargained for when a lunchtime meal in their local pub leaves everyone with food poisoning. The landlord is horrified and when a series of disasters start to befall his business it looks like it could be the end of the road for the Crown and Anchor. Left with a bad taste in their mouths – and not just from the food – the two amateur detectives wonder if it might just be more than a run of bad luck, which is forcing their favorite pub into bankruptcy. When Ray, a young man with the mental age of a five year old, is found in the kitchen of the pub with a knife through his heart – Carole and Jude swing into action. There’s a killer on the loose in Fethering and our lady sleuths need to uncover who it is before it’s last orders for the pub – and themselves.

The affluent seaside resort of Smalting is unaccustomed to crime. So when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of one of its beach huts, the community is awash with suspicion and fear. Amateur sleuths Carole Seddon and best friend Jude are drawn into the mystery, and their suspicion quickly falls on attractive Philly Rose, a young Londoner newly arrived in the area, whose boyfriend has recently vanished in mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, Kelvin Southwest, self-appointed ‘ladies’ man’ and caretaker of Smalting’s beach huts, seems to be hiding a dark secret beneath his smooth exterior, while Reginald Flowers, pompous President of the Smalting Beach Hut Association, becomes increasingly defensive about his own history. When the bones under the beach hut are identified, the ghosts of the past are painfully reawakened, and long-hidden secrets begin to surface. Bones Under the Beach Hut is an ingenious mystery from one of England’s favourite crime writers, exquisitely plotted, teeming with wonderful characters and packed with unexpected twists.

When Jude agrees to lend her vintage chaise longue for the local Amateur Dramatics Society's production of George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, little does she realize she'll end up in a starring role. It's an ambitious play, culminating in a dramatic execution scene: a scene that's played for real when one of the leading actors is found hanging from the especially-constructed stage gallows during rehearsals. A tragic accident - or something more sinister? Carole and Jude make it their business to find out.

Melita Pargeter, widow of much-loved crook Mr Pargeter, embarks on an escapade to prove the innocence of her beloved friend, builder ‘Concrete Jacket’, who has been arrested for murder. Someone has set him up – but who? Mrs P calls on her band of ex-cons to help her trap the real killer.