The Body on the Beach by Simon BrettMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Sometimes it's nice to just kick back and relax with a cup of tea and a nice little murder mystery set in a little village based in my home county and enjoy the ride. For the most part, this is one of those books. It's set in Fethering, not far from Brighton (where I was born), so it was nice to be able to picture the country side. Simon Brett did a great job of setting the scene and describing the area. He did a great job of describing the eccentric range of characters that live in Fethering (many of which I'm sure are based on real life people) and the mystery itself was full of twists and turns (although sadly I managed to work out the ending before I got there).
The main problem that I had with this book is the main character, Carole. Jude is lovely, funny and very down-to-earth and I know that Carole is a kind of opposite to Jude but she was mostly just annoying. As a firm fan of M.C. Beaton and her Agatha Raisin series I know it's possible to create a character in their mid fifties who is a bit 'different' shall we say. But Carole was not even likeable. She went on and on about 'the Fethering way' and was so concerned about how people saw her and what was the socially acceptable thing to do that she became thoroughly irritating. If Jude's narration hadn't taken over at the time that it did I might have stopped reading. However, with Jude, Carole become a lot more relatable. That problem of meeting a new friend and wanting to know everything about them but not appear nosey. I suffer with that problem on a daily basis! And by the end of the book she was far more mellowed out. I suppose I find it hard to believe that Carole was only in her mid-fifties. My Mum is 53 this year, she does not have grey hair, dresses with style and is not so old fashioned in her views and opinions. God forbid anyone should not see her going into a pub! And I believe you'll have to search very hard for a woman of Carole's age who is anything like her. If you add another twenty years maybe you'll be in luck.
So overall a quaint little read and I think I will read more in the future hoping that Carole grows on me.
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