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Charles Paris #10
Not Dead, Only Resting
Tristam Gowers and Yves Lafeu have the flamboyance of stage matinee idols, but currently they are running a very smart restaurant, Tryst, which is much patronized by top people in the theatrical profession. Which means it's not Charles Paris's usual ambience, but this small-part player, who's more successful as an amateur detective than as professional actor, is the guest tonight of another fascinating duo, William Bartlemas and Kevin O'Rourke, wealthy collectors of theatrical memorabilia. And he is in at the death: the gruesome murder of Yves.
Not Dead, Only Resting seems to be an open and shut case. Tristam caught the night boat to France within hours of a spectacular public quarrel with Yves over a pretty youth, and now he has disappeared. But of course there's much more to it than that: much more, as Charles discovers when he begins to investigate.
Author Bio: Simon Brett is a former radio and television comedy producer, who has been writing fulltime for more than 20 years. Creator of the Charles Paris, Mrs. Pargeter, and Fethering series of mysteries, Brett's psychological thriller, "A Shock to the System" was made into a movie starring Michael Caine. Married, with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie-style village in West Sussex, England.
Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 1984
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166 people want to read
About the author
Simon Brett
330 books536 followersSimon Brett is a prolific British writer of whodunnits.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
He is the son of a Chartered Surveyor and was educated at Dulwich College and Wadham College, Oxford, where he got a first class honours degree in English.
He then joined the BBC as a trainee and worked for BBC Radio and London Weekend Television, where his work included 'Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and 'Frank Muir Goes Into ...'.
After his spells with the media he began devoting most of his time to writing from the late 1970s and is well known for his various series of crime novels.
He is married with three children and lives in Burpham, near Arundel, West Sussex, England. He is the current president of the Detection Club.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
January 31, 2025
Not Dead, Only Resting was one of the better mysteries in the Charles Paris series. I don’t read these books for the mysteries, but for Charles Paris himself—one of my favorite out-of-work actors with a fondness for Scotch whisky. Surprisingly, Charles behaved himself in this one... I don’t think he even got drunk. Hmm.
May 31, 2013
OK, so this may not technically be a four-star book, but Simon Brett read it. He's one of the best readers I've heard, and hearing him read his own work is close to listening perfection. His accents seem pretty close to flawless to me and he differentiated between the Australian and Charles Paris pretending to be an Australian beautifully. Loved his Irish, too.
The story itself is a good mystery with Charles Paris, the perennially unsuccessful actor, in an extended resting period. Two affluent friends stand him dinner at the restaurant, Tryst. (I may not be spelling that properly, as I listened to this rather than reading it and it is a punning name.) The owner and the chef are off on their annual holiday the next morning and Charles and his friends witness one of their regular rows. Another actor colleague of Charles works part-time as a decorator and he seconds Charles to help him decorate a flat while the owners are away. A dead body awaits, the body's lover has disappeared, and the lover's cousin hires Charles to investigate.
Much investigation ensues, with Charles using his talents and contacts and finally working his dogged way to the solution.
This is probably my favourite of the Charles Paris series. I've read three or four of them some time back, and gave up because I was fed up with Charles constantly ruining his own chances with jobs and his estranged wife, Frances. In this book he does neither. He goes on no benders and doesn't let Frances down. In fact, it has encouraged me to seek out others of the series again. I'm hoping for more audio book versions!
The story itself is a good mystery with Charles Paris, the perennially unsuccessful actor, in an extended resting period. Two affluent friends stand him dinner at the restaurant, Tryst. (I may not be spelling that properly, as I listened to this rather than reading it and it is a punning name.) The owner and the chef are off on their annual holiday the next morning and Charles and his friends witness one of their regular rows. Another actor colleague of Charles works part-time as a decorator and he seconds Charles to help him decorate a flat while the owners are away. A dead body awaits, the body's lover has disappeared, and the lover's cousin hires Charles to investigate.
Much investigation ensues, with Charles using his talents and contacts and finally working his dogged way to the solution.
This is probably my favourite of the Charles Paris series. I've read three or four of them some time back, and gave up because I was fed up with Charles constantly ruining his own chances with jobs and his estranged wife, Frances. In this book he does neither. He goes on no benders and doesn't let Frances down. In fact, it has encouraged me to seek out others of the series again. I'm hoping for more audio book versions!
July 7, 2020
My favorite feature in the Charles Paris novels are Paris' references to the tepid reviews he has received for his various stage portrayals, all of which are quite funny.
The plot in this one is pretty engaging, and in this one, for a straight character he manages to navigate the descriptions of his fellow gay actors with a more or less convincing non-homophobic attitude born of experience and affection for his gay friends.
Charles Paris is a character that John Updike might have created had he been able to lose his misogynistic, smug, male-centric take on life while summoning up a smidgeon of humility.
That is the best way I can describe Charles Paris: a mediocre, perpetually impecunious actor with a failed marriage who nonetheless is a rather sweet guy with a good bit of detachment toward himself.
So I keep reading this series because I like the guy.
The plot in this one is pretty engaging, and in this one, for a straight character he manages to navigate the descriptions of his fellow gay actors with a more or less convincing non-homophobic attitude born of experience and affection for his gay friends.
Charles Paris is a character that John Updike might have created had he been able to lose his misogynistic, smug, male-centric take on life while summoning up a smidgeon of humility.
That is the best way I can describe Charles Paris: a mediocre, perpetually impecunious actor with a failed marriage who nonetheless is a rather sweet guy with a good bit of detachment toward himself.
So I keep reading this series because I like the guy.
December 20, 2021
( Format : Audiobook )
"Yes, I'll be free."
Always a fan of Simon Brett's stories and, especially, those of Charles Paris, the actor avoided by fame and success, I really loved this one. Book ten in the series, Charles is still 'resting' when he discovers the chef partner of a celebrity restaurateur bloodied and dead in his bedroom, his other half missing, believed to have gone to France. Persuaded by a friend to do what the police seemed not to want to do - investigate - Charles meets up with old acting pals, like Stan who has created a company for the out of work thespian and who talks with a (probably) mock Cockney rhyming slang where he uses "Charlie" (Charile Chan) for van, "saints and" (sinners) for dinners, "Michael" (Caine) for brain, "permanent" ( wave) for grave, and many others. Conjuring up the atmosphere of a bygone London, with strong characters and humour, this is great fun. The mystery isn't bad, either.
Narration is by the author, often a mistake but not in this case.
Looking forward to my next Charles Paris.
"Yes, I'll be free."
Always a fan of Simon Brett's stories and, especially, those of Charles Paris, the actor avoided by fame and success, I really loved this one. Book ten in the series, Charles is still 'resting' when he discovers the chef partner of a celebrity restaurateur bloodied and dead in his bedroom, his other half missing, believed to have gone to France. Persuaded by a friend to do what the police seemed not to want to do - investigate - Charles meets up with old acting pals, like Stan who has created a company for the out of work thespian and who talks with a (probably) mock Cockney rhyming slang where he uses "Charlie" (Charile Chan) for van, "saints and" (sinners) for dinners, "Michael" (Caine) for brain, "permanent" ( wave) for grave, and many others. Conjuring up the atmosphere of a bygone London, with strong characters and humour, this is great fun. The mystery isn't bad, either.
Narration is by the author, often a mistake but not in this case.
Looking forward to my next Charles Paris.
September 22, 2018
3.5 stars.
This is one of the best (if not THE BEST) mystery in the series I’ve read thus far.
The twists and final reveal are great and the humour is phenomenal.
I’ll end with the greatest quote ever: “You are an old, filthy perversion.” - Swedish Girl in Charles’ bedsit Building to an investigating Charles
Great stuff!
This is one of the best (if not THE BEST) mystery in the series I’ve read thus far.
The twists and final reveal are great and the humour is phenomenal.
I’ll end with the greatest quote ever: “You are an old, filthy perversion.” - Swedish Girl in Charles’ bedsit Building to an investigating Charles
Great stuff!
December 28, 2018
Charles is earning money again (or at least trying to) but this time not as an actor but as a decorator. Just while he's resting you know. Unfortunately when he and the man he's working for turn up at their next job. at a flat over a showbiz restaurant, they find a corpse. And soon Charles is investigating again. Lots of fun - and a smart move to have Mr P away from acting for a change.
October 8, 2017
Charles Paris is once again between acting jobs so he takes on a job redecorating an apartment. Unfortunately he finds the body of one of the two residents, chef Yves Lafeu. Charles is hired by the main suspects cousins to prove his innocence. A short mystery. The series is enjoyable.
March 12, 2023
another great Charles Paris vintage adventure
August 29, 2023
This is an early episode in the casebook of down-at-heel actor Charles Paris, and is recounted with Simon Brett's customary humour. This time around, the setting is less theatrical than in previous novels as Charles is in one of his lengthy periods of "resting", with no prospect of imminent employment anywhere on the horizon.
The story opens with Charles dining with Bartlemas and O'Rourke, a gay couple renowned in London's theatrical world for their eccentricity of dress, their obsession with Edmund Kean and William Macready, and their almost religious devotion to attending the first night of any new West End show. They are at ‘Tryst’, a fashionable restaurant run by O'Rourke's cousin Tristram Gowers, a former actor who had retired from the profession and tried his hand as a restaurateur, trading on the marvellous cooking skills of his partner, Yves Lafeu.
As it happens, this is the last night that the restaurant will be open for quite some time as Gowers and Lafeu are due to set off very early the following morning for their annual vacation of a month in Cahors, France. However, as the evening draws to a close, they suddenly find themselves having a very public and vitriolic argument - this is not uncommon and has become one of the principal attractions for regular diners in the restaurant. The customers drift off assuming that this is just another lovers' tiff.
Meanwhile Charles has been given the offer of work through the actors' old boys network. Unfortunately, it is not a decent acting job but, rather, the chance to earn some black economy cash as a decorator, working for a colleague whom he had acted with years previously, and who has developed a side-line to tide him over through long periods of ‘resting’. As luck would have it, the flat that they will be decorating is that occupied by Gowers and Lafeu. We never find out, however, whether Charles is any better ant painting and decorating than he is at acting, because no sooner have he and his friend entered the supposedly empty flat than they discovered the mutilated corpse of Yves Lafeu. The obvious implication is that the argument in the restaurant boiled over into physical rage, and that Gowers murdered his partner before fleeing the country. O'Rourke is reluctant to accept that his cousin could have murdered Yves, however sorely provoked, and, aware of Charles's past success in investigating murders, he pleads with him to delve into the case.
As usual, Brett delivers a very humorous and entertaining story, and Charles remains as empathetic as ever. Brett never allows the humour to compromise the plot which remains watertight. A recurring theme throughout the Charles Paris novels is his penchant for adopting disguises based upon former roles from his career, although these always prompt him to recall the reviews the role in question drew. Paradoxically he can always remember the poor or excoriating reviews verbatim, but can never once call to mind a positive comment.
This was very entertaining, if slightly dated (but, after all, it was written in 1984).
The story opens with Charles dining with Bartlemas and O'Rourke, a gay couple renowned in London's theatrical world for their eccentricity of dress, their obsession with Edmund Kean and William Macready, and their almost religious devotion to attending the first night of any new West End show. They are at ‘Tryst’, a fashionable restaurant run by O'Rourke's cousin Tristram Gowers, a former actor who had retired from the profession and tried his hand as a restaurateur, trading on the marvellous cooking skills of his partner, Yves Lafeu.
As it happens, this is the last night that the restaurant will be open for quite some time as Gowers and Lafeu are due to set off very early the following morning for their annual vacation of a month in Cahors, France. However, as the evening draws to a close, they suddenly find themselves having a very public and vitriolic argument - this is not uncommon and has become one of the principal attractions for regular diners in the restaurant. The customers drift off assuming that this is just another lovers' tiff.
Meanwhile Charles has been given the offer of work through the actors' old boys network. Unfortunately, it is not a decent acting job but, rather, the chance to earn some black economy cash as a decorator, working for a colleague whom he had acted with years previously, and who has developed a side-line to tide him over through long periods of ‘resting’. As luck would have it, the flat that they will be decorating is that occupied by Gowers and Lafeu. We never find out, however, whether Charles is any better ant painting and decorating than he is at acting, because no sooner have he and his friend entered the supposedly empty flat than they discovered the mutilated corpse of Yves Lafeu. The obvious implication is that the argument in the restaurant boiled over into physical rage, and that Gowers murdered his partner before fleeing the country. O'Rourke is reluctant to accept that his cousin could have murdered Yves, however sorely provoked, and, aware of Charles's past success in investigating murders, he pleads with him to delve into the case.
As usual, Brett delivers a very humorous and entertaining story, and Charles remains as empathetic as ever. Brett never allows the humour to compromise the plot which remains watertight. A recurring theme throughout the Charles Paris novels is his penchant for adopting disguises based upon former roles from his career, although these always prompt him to recall the reviews the role in question drew. Paradoxically he can always remember the poor or excoriating reviews verbatim, but can never once call to mind a positive comment.
This was very entertaining, if slightly dated (but, after all, it was written in 1984).
December 11, 2011
Charles Paris' friends, sweet old gay couple Kevin O'Rourke and William Bartlemas who dress alike and finish and start each-others sentences take him out to a dinner at Tryst, a restaurant where the flamboyant couple who run the place, ex-actors Tristam Gowers and chef Yves LaFeu are apt to kick up a public show over Yves outrageous and sometimes not so innocent flirting. But they can't believe one would actually kill the other, however obvious it looks. Paris is "resting," in other words, out of work, so they hire him to solve the mystery. Why is obvious as well, Charles Paris was the one who discovered the body while trying to earn a few bob helping a friend to redecorate the apartment while Gowers and LaFeu were to be off on vacation!
Now, you'll think I've just spoiled away like crazy. Not true! There's lots I've left out.
I'm going to keep a lid on spoilers because this was a fun one. Ha!
Now, you'll think I've just spoiled away like crazy. Not true! There's lots I've left out.
I'm going to keep a lid on spoilers because this was a fun one. Ha!
August 16, 2014
Another delightful story about unfortunate actor Charles Paris. As the story opens, Charles is once again "resting", but a chance meeting with some well-off old friends ends with dinner at the toney new restaurant Tryst. There he witnesses an argument between the restaurant's owners, manager Tristam and chef Yves.
By coincidence, Charles lands a side job painting the apartment of these two, located over the restaurant, as they have taken their annual month-long vacation. But then he stumbles over a dead body...
The novel is by turns witty and moving, with a good plot and a cast of interesting characters. This series is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, with sad-sack Paris keeping the faith with his "art" with the aid of Bell's gin, and always managing the catch the killer before the final curtain.
By coincidence, Charles lands a side job painting the apartment of these two, located over the restaurant, as they have taken their annual month-long vacation. But then he stumbles over a dead body...
The novel is by turns witty and moving, with a good plot and a cast of interesting characters. This series is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, with sad-sack Paris keeping the faith with his "art" with the aid of Bell's gin, and always managing the catch the killer before the final curtain.
January 30, 2012
His writing style is very assured. Reading one of his mysteries feels a bit like taking a mini vacation. I will have to look for more of the C. Paris books.
Loved the kick-off quotation: "With respect to the extravagance of actors, as a traditional character, it is not to be wondered at. They live from hand to mouth: they plunge from want into luxury; they have no means of making money *breed*, and all professions that do not live by turning money into money, or have not a certainty of accumulating it in the end by parsimony, spend it. Uncertain of the future, they make sure of the present moment. This is not unwise."
William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830) "On Actors and Acting"
Loved the kick-off quotation: "With respect to the extravagance of actors, as a traditional character, it is not to be wondered at. They live from hand to mouth: they plunge from want into luxury; they have no means of making money *breed*, and all professions that do not live by turning money into money, or have not a certainty of accumulating it in the end by parsimony, spend it. Uncertain of the future, they make sure of the present moment. This is not unwise."
William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830) "On Actors and Acting"
January 26, 2016
Light, but well-written murder mystery. Intriguing and colourful insights into the life and work of an actor, and how some deal with the extensive non-working times when no money's coming in and they're merely 'resting'.
The book has enough suspects to keep you interested and guessing right to the end. And even when you've discovered 'who done it', and pretty well happy with the result, the last page will still bring a smile and a giggle to your lips.
The book has enough suspects to keep you interested and guessing right to the end. And even when you've discovered 'who done it', and pretty well happy with the result, the last page will still bring a smile and a giggle to your lips.
December 17, 2013
This is not the best mystery story in the world, but Charles Paris as a chronically underemployed actor is such an appealing character that I enjoyed it. The amusing background comments on what the acting life in London is really like are fun to read. A good light mystery for the over-busy holiday season.
November 11, 2014
Listened to this audiobook whilst unwell
The 10th book in the series of Charles Paris mysteries. Simon Brett is a very good author and reads his own book well. The book was well paced and engaging. Brett uses excellent descriptive language. Some good twists before the killer is revealed.
The 10th book in the series of Charles Paris mysteries. Simon Brett is a very good author and reads his own book well. The book was well paced and engaging. Brett uses excellent descriptive language. Some good twists before the killer is revealed.
August 20, 2016
Another dead body for Charles Paris to investigate with the usual humour.
Charles is resting and takes a decorating job, and uncovers a murder. The investigation takes him to France.
Wonderful stories
4 stars
Charles is resting and takes a decorating job, and uncovers a murder. The investigation takes him to France.
Wonderful stories
4 stars
February 9, 2019
4 cassettes, circa 6 hrs.
July 15, 2014
another fun investigation with Charles Paris. I especially enjoyed the characters in this one and had a few laughs
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews