Simon Brett worked as a producer in radio and television before taking up writing full-time. He was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours ‘for services to literature’ and also was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2014 he won the CWA’s prestigious Diamond Dagger for an outstanding body of work. simonbrett.com

       Also by Simon Brett

      The Fethering Mysteries The Body on the Beach Death on the Downs Murder in the Museum The Hanging in the Hotel The Witness at the Wedding The Stabbing in the Stables Death Under the Dryer Blood at the Bookies The Poisoning in the Pub The Shooting in the Shop Bones Under the Beach Hut Guns in the Gallery Corpse on the Court The Strangling on the Stage The Tomb in Turkey The Killing in the Cafe The Liar in The Library

      The Charles Paris Theatrical Series Dead Room Farce A Decent Interval The Cinderella Killer

      The Mrs Pargeter Mysteries Mrs Pargeter’s Point of Honour Mrs Pargeter’s Principle Mrs Pargeter’s Public Relations

      First published in Great Britain, the USA and Canada in 2019

       by Black Thorn, an imprint of Canongate Books Ltd,

       14 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1TE

      This digital edition first published in 2019 by Black Thorn, an imprint of Canongate Books

      First published in 2002 by Macmillan Publishers Ltd,

       Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR

      blackthornbooks.com

      Copyright © Simon Brett, 2002

      The moral right of the author has been asserted

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is purely coincidental.

      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available on request from the British Library

      eISBN 978 1 78689 774 9

      Contents

       Chapter One

       Chapter Two

       Chapter Three

       Chapter Four

       Chapter Five

       Chapter Six

       Chapter Seven

       Chapter Eight

       Chapter Nine

       Chapter Ten

       Chapter Eleven

       Chapter Twelve

       Chapter Thirteen

       Chapter Fourteen

       Chapter Fifteen

       Chapter Sixteen

       Chapter Seventeen

       Chapter Eighteen

       Chapter Nineteen

       Chapter Twenty

       Chapter Twenty-One

       Chapter Twenty-Two

       Chapter Twenty-Three

       Chapter Twenty-Four

       Chapter Twenty-Five

       Chapter Twenty-Six

       Chapter Twenty-Seven

       Chapter Twenty-Eight

       Chapter Twenty-Nine

       Chapter Thirty

       Chapter Thirty-One

       Chapter Thirty-Two

       Chapter Thirty-Three

       Chapter Thirty-Four

       Chapter Thirty-Five

       Chapter Thirty-Six

       Chapter Thirty-Seven

       Chapter Thirty-Eight

       Chapter Thirty-Nine

       Chapter Forty

       Chapter Forty-One

       Chapter Forty-Two

       Chapter