A Comedian Dies

Meet Charles Paris: a washed-up actor with a taste for wine, women . . . and solving crimes! A binge-worthy cozy mystery series from the original king of British cozy crime, internationally best-selling, award-winning author Simon Brett, OBE. For fans of Richard Osman – but with added bite!
"Like a little malice in your mysteries? Some cynicism in your cosies? Simon Brett is happy to oblige" THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Few crime writers are as enchantingly gifted" THE SUNDAY TIMES
"One of British crime's most assured craftsmen . . . Perfect entertainment" THE GUARDIAN
"A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans" P.D. JAMES
"Murder most enjoyable" COLIN DEXTER
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A middle-aged actor – and sometimes sleuth – on his summer hols
A British seaside town in September
A variety show, with an electric headline act . . .
It's all good fun until A COMEDIAN DIES
(Mostly) out of work actor Charles Paris is indulging in a particularly British tradition: taking a seaside summer holiday, and hiding from the rain. A little less traditional is his current company: Frances, his long-estranged wife.
Today's dubious (indoor) entertainment takes the form of the Sun 'n' Funtime variety show at Hunstanton's decaying Winter Gardens, headlined by a young stage comedian who's slated to be the next big thing.
His act is more electrifying than anyone could have expected: as soon as he picks up his guitar and mike, he sensationally drops dead. Electrocuted, it becomes clear, in a tragic accident caused by faulty wiring.
But Charles, who's starting to worry about how often he stumbles upon corpses, quickly has reason to doubt the coroner's conclusions. With suspects aplenty popping up, was it death by misadventure – or good old-fashioned murder?
Fans of Agatha Christie, The Thursday Murder Club, Anthony Horowitz, Alexander McCall Smith, M.C. Beaton and Faith Martin will love this hilarious cozy traditional mystery series featuring one of the funniest antiheroes in crime fiction. Written over a fifty-year-period, it perfectly captures life and contemporary attitudes in 1970s London – and beyond!
READERS ADORE CHARLES PARIS:
"A likable case . . . A neat, swift read by anybody's standard" Kirkus Reviews
"I love this series and recommend it to all who enjoy light hearted who-dun-its set within a theatrical background" Norma, 5* GoodReads review
"The mystery is great and kept me guessing but the way that Charles Paris accidentally blunders his way through the story with all his faults is joyful" Nic, 5* GoodReads review
"Great writer. I find his storytelling on a par with the great Agatha" Rosie, 5* Amazon review
"Simon Brett never disappoints. Charles Paris is one of my favourite fictional sleuths" Ellen, 5* Amazon review
"One of Brett's best" Richmonde, 5* Amazon review
THE CHARLES PARIS MYSTERIES, IN ORDER:
1. Cast in Order of Disappearance
2. So Much Blood
3. Star Trap
4. An Amateur Corpse
5. A Comedian Dies
6. The Dead Side of the Mike
7. Situation Tragedy
8. Murder Unprompted
9. Murder in the Title
10. Not Dead, Only Resting
11. Dead Giveaway
12. What Bloody Man is That
13. A Series of Murders
14. Corporate Bodies
15. A Reconstructed Corpse
16. Sicken and So Die
17. Dead Room Farce
18. A Decent Interval
19. The Cinderella Killer
20. A Deadly Habit