The Body on the Beach

A Fethering Mystery

By: Simon Brett

Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Recently retired, Carole Seddon is residing in Fethering in the cottage she purchased with her ex-husband. There she maintains a quiet and sensible life with the companionship of Gulliver, her Labrador retriever. But everything changes when she and Gulliver, while taking their daily constitutional, find a corpse on the beach. What's more, there are two wounds on its neck. The body mysteriously disappears and the police dismiss Carole as a befuddled middle-aged woman. She almost starts to believe it herself...until a stranger threatens her to keep quiet or else.

Unable to contain her anxiety, Carole confides in her eccentric neighbor, Jude - who suggests that if the police cannot be bothered to catch a killer, maybe they should do it themselves.

©2000 Simon Brett (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Simon Brett is one of the wittiest mystery writers around." ( Baltimore Sun)
"Howard's narrative clarity and varied inflection illustrate the story remarkably well." ( Booklist)
"Brett has written yet another mystery with a good central puzzle and intriguing individual touches." ( Chicago Tribune)

I loved it!

Two great characters, one a free spirit, one an uptight and social conservative join together to discover what happened to the body on the beach. A fun, wonderful listen. My only complaint is that the reader could have slowed down a bit, but that didn't spoil the listen for me. Many of the locals are funny without knowing they are and that adds to the enjoyment of the book. I'm definitely going to be listening to more of these Feathering mysteries. A great cozy. Highly recommended.

Delightful contemporary cozy with an edge

How have I never happened on this series before? The narration is wonderful, the characters memorable , quirky yet completely believable, and the mystery compelling. Looking forward to the next in the series.

Easy to listen to

First of all I have already stopped reading a few books simply because the reader turned me right off...not so in this case. Geoffrey Howard does a super job. The story moves along in a very logical and easy to listen to way. Not a lot of jumping back and forth in time and place. I'm about ready to look for my second book by this author.

A Nice Little Cozy

The Body On The Beach was a very pleasant way to spend 7 hours of leisure time. The narrator, Geoffrey Howard, did an excellent job, getting each character just right and adding much to the enjoyment of the book. The plot and characters were interesting enough, and i would like to read other books by Simon Brett. If you are a fan of the British cozy i think you will enjoy this one.

Cozy with substance

Plot kept me intrigued, characters were developed enough to make you care. Fun read. Xxxxxxxxz

Nothing Cozy Here

Because I can't see anything cute and cuddly about murder, I avoid mysteries marketed under the "cozy" rubric. So I was taken aback by another reviewer docketing this story as such. Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the label, I can't see anything cozy here.

Yes, our protagonists are a middle-aged female odd couple (one conventional, one a free spirit) living on the fringe of a comfortable upscale community. But they spend more time drinking white wine at the pub than tea in the drawing room. And the result of their partnership -- besides solving a crime -- is to ease our conventional heroine out of her cozy attitude to life. Realizing real people either have been or are going to get hurt, she even stops thinking about the amateur investigation as a "game". Add a perfectly horrible marriage, a teenage suicide and a rotting corpse and the atmosphere becomes even more un-cozy.

It's a terrific yarn full of vivid characters with a great denouement. And, as always, Geoffrey Howard makes it sound even better.

Prim, proper, and murder on an English beach

Simon Brett has created the seaside village of Feathering, in England, that is a quaint background for an updated re versioning of a Miss Marple type mystery. He completely captures the scenes and residents of Feathering, so it feels like a second home for this reader. Our protagonist, Carole Seddon, is a fifty something, divorced, former employee from the Home Office. Being "proper" and quietly in the background of society is her goal for her latter years. All goes well until a free-spirited, loudly jovial, and TOO neighborly woman moves next door to Carole. "They just call me Jude" keeps everything about her own personal life quiet, but she shares in everything else going on around her.

When Carole finds a dead body on the beach, that conveniently goes missing when she reports her find to the police, Jude becomes her encouraging side-kick to prove that there was actually a dead body. Of course, the two find themselves getting into all kinds of compromising situations, and threats are made to their safety. When a young boy is also washed upon the beach, the police finally become involved, and the "game is afloat".

Great characters, wonderful scenic descriptions, stereotypical village life, and subtle humor makes this a GREAT start of a new series for Simon Brett.

Consistently good and interesting

I am hooked on Simon Brett's mysteries. Geoffrey Howard is an excellent narrator. Carol and Judes characters are developed so richly and with in such humor and depth. I recognize parts of myself in each. Stimulating entertaining read. I wish so I'm in Brentwood write some more. I've listened to all of his books at least once.

Entertaining series

Clicked on this book as an audible recommendation, based on what I have been searching.
While some people say this is a cozy series, I believe we need a category for series that are superior to the cozy formula. This was more classic fun British mystery. Rated PG When the books switch to Simon Brett as narrator there is no change in quality, actually, both men sound similar. There is enough information about each story in the book details section, so if you are looking for pleasant escapism this will work for you.

Clever and sweet

Well written and performed, a bit nostalgic but the characters are still easily imagined in 2021.