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 professional actor - and amateur sleuth - hitting a low point in his acting career

An unsuccessful mystery play

A series of accidents backstage - one of them ending up deadly . . .

This play has MURDER IN THE TITLE!

Middle-aged actor Charles Paris hits a new low point in his acting career with The Message is Murder - an unsuccessful provincial mystery play supported by pretentious theatre management, in which Charles is starring as a corpse.

The situation seems bleak, but when Charles very nearly becomes a real murder victim on stage, it gets even bleaker! The unusual accidents start to multiply, and Charles soon realises that someone is deliberately sabotaging the theatre company. Who is behind the malfunctions, with murderous intent - and can he find the culprit before they strike again?

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:

"Highly recommended" Library Journal

"One of the best in the series" The New York Times

"Top notch" Jeff M., 5* GoodReads review

"Great! Another opportunity to lavish praise on and give thanks to Simon Brett!" Jennifer D., 5* GoodReads review

"A fabulous mix of wry humour and sleuthing" Gordon Branson, 5* Amazon review

"If you haven't read any of Simon Brett's books you are missing a big treat" Wendy O., 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