I am a long term fan of Simon Brett, thpugh mainly on his radio work not so much for his novel writing, After Henry is one of the great family comedy sradio and TV series to this day! “Mrs. Pargeter’s Patio,” is one of his forays into the cozy mystery genre, featuring the charming and resourceful widow, Mrs. Pargeter.
When widow Mrs Pargeter decides to have her morning coffee on the patio of her mansion in Chigwell, her intention is to admire her beautiful garden in peace and quiet. Little does she expect one of the patio’s paving slabs to crack in two, depositing her on the ground – and revealing a human skull with a neat hole in the middle of its forehead!
This is the 9th in the Mrs Pargeter books, but I didn’t feel I had missed much by starting on number 9. I very much enjoyed the colourful cast of characters, each with their own quirks and motivations – a standard in the cozy crime genre.
In a world of many cozy crime books – does it stand out? I didn’t take to it as much as I do MC Beaton but those relationships have been built up by years and I feel this could be the beginning of a nice new journey. I enjoyed the humour, as I knew I would from Simon Brett, and I’ll definitely investigate the previous books!