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 desperate actor - and involuntary sleuth - taking a job as a house painter

A horrible discovery on his first day at work

A corpse - mutilated and left for days . . .

But at least Charles Paris is NOT DEAD, ONLY RESTING!

Unemployed actor Charles Paris is desperate for a job. With no acting engagements on the horizon, he takes up a job as a house painter . . . only to discover the mutilated corpse of the young and handsome chef of a fancy London restaurant on his first day at work!

The public quarrel between murder victim Yves Lafeu and his business and life partner Tristram Gowers at their restaurant a few days prior makes this an open and shut case - especially as Tristan has gone on the run, and is nowhere to be found.

But when it becomes clear that Yves seemed to have more foes than initially thought, Charles launches into sleuthing action, determined to find out what really happened - and to catch a cunning killer.

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 delightfully witty tale" Library Journal

"Brett has a gift for creating vivid, complex characters" Publishers Weekly

"Few crime writers are as enchantingly gifted" The Sunday Times

"A nicely layered plot . . . lively characters . . . and an unexpected ending" Happiness Is a Warm Book

"I really loved this one . . . great fun" Norma, 5* GoodReads review

"Brilliant . . . write more" Amazon Customer, 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