An Amateur Corpse

Charles Paris #4

by Simon Brett

An Amateur Corpse is another fascinating Simon Brett mystery set in the backdrop of theater. Charles Paris is a part-time detective and professional actor, drawn into the affairs of an amateur theater company. Charles’s friend Hugo’s wife is murdered, and Hugo is charged with the crime. Now, Paris takes on the case personally. The solution to the mystery lies in a clever double alibi. An Amateur Corpse is an absorbing, and entertaining account of theatrical backstaging, backscratching and backbiting.

Genres: Mystery, Audiobook, Murder Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Detective

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1978

About the author

Simon 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.

Reviews

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles Paris, a professional actor and a part time investigator us invited to be the critic of a a play for some amateur actors with an invitation from his lifetime friend, Hugo. From his first meeting with them, he feels that emotions are high among them then someone is murdered and an innocent person is arrested accordingly Charles should occupy his part time job.
This novel isn't good even if it tries to imitate agatha Christie. The novel is full of fun.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Amateur Corpse is the 4th book in the Charles Paris mystery series by English author Simon Brett, one of 3 of his mystery series that I'm enjoying. Charles Paris is a struggling actor who gets involved in mysteries in each story. Simple, eh? Yup.

In this story, Charles is helping his best friend Hugo Mecken. Hugo is an ad executive who has provided Charles with an excellent opportunity to get into voice work. As a result Charles agreed to act as a critic for the Back Stager's production of The Seagull. The Back Stagers are an amateur troupe who present works and it so happens that Hugo's wife, Charlotte had the lead role.

Unfortunately, Charlotte, who is one of the few actual talents in the play, will end up murdered and Hugo will be arrested and also will confess to the murder. Relations between the two have been tense and Hugo has been drinking himself senseless. While Hugo can't actually remember committing the act, he figures he probably did and in any event doesn't actually care.

Charles doubts his friend's guilt and that is the crux of the story, as he conducts his own investigation, comes up with various suspects and ultimately... (well, I won't tell you if he actually solves it. I wouldn't want to ruin your reading fun)

It's an interesting series as it combines murder mysteries, with a behind the scenes look at the acting industry (in Great Britain) and the struggles of people to get into it. Paris has struggled for years, has ruined a marriage, is a bit of a drunk, and makes an interesting detective. His friend, Gerald, an entertainment lawyer, usually comes along for the ride and in this case represents Hugo. The rest of the cast are the actors in the Back Stager's troupe, all different and all possible suspects.

An enjoyable read as always. I plan to explore Brett's other series this month and hope to read at least one more Paris as well. We'll see. Check them out. (3.5 stars)

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charles ..... Bill Nighy
Frances ..... Suzanne Burden
Joan ..... Geraldine McEwan
Hugo ..... Paul Ritter
Ellie ...... Amaka Okafor
Saskia ..... Christine Absalom
Geoff ...... Patrick Brennan
Clive ...... Sam Alexander

Director ...... Sally Avens

Blurb - Bill Nighy is back as Charles Paris, actor, alcoholic and amateur sleuth. Charles is once again out of work an event that is made worse by the fact that his mother (played by Geraldine McEwen) has come to stay whilst recovering from an operation; Joan is even driving 'St Frances of Highgate' mad. So when he bumps into old friend, Hugo, who offers him the chance of some voiceover work Charles is doubly happy; some money and a chance to get out of the house.
But a simple voice job leads Charles into Hugo's drink fuelled depressing marriage; his young wife spends most of her time at an am-dram group with some very strange members and Hugo it seems is ready to crack.

Bill Nighy has recently completed filming Richard Curtis latest film 'About Time'.
Suzanne Burden has been touring in 'Tis Pity She's A Whore' and filming 'Fresh Meat'.
Paul Ritter (Harry Potter, Henry IV, Friday Night Dinner).
BAFTA Award winning actress Geraldine McEwan makes a guest appearance as Charles' mother in this series.

Jeremy Front has dramatised several series of Charles Paris. He also co-writes with his sister, the actress Rebecca Front, the series 'Incredible Women' and is currently adapting Evelyn Waugh's 'Sword of Honour' for Radio 4.
The Charles Paris Mysteries are based on the series of novels by Simon Brett

Music track opens with Who - I'm a Boy 1967

then Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls of Fire

#3 eluded me (tip of my tongue) - any clues?

#4 Strange Brew -- Cream

#5 Nope!

#6 Purple Haze

Jane Birkin et Serge Gainsbourg - Je T'aime,...Moi Non Plus

Phil Spector - Darlene Love - Winter Wonderland - A Christmas Gift For You - 1963

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

From BBC Radio 4:
When old friend Hugo offers Charles some voiceover work it leads him into the murky world
of Hugo's marriage and his wife's appalling am-dram group.

[Jo Weston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bit one dimensional, but I stuck with it as it starred Bill Nighy in the radio adaptation, and Geraldine McEwan stole the show as his mother - an absolute hoot! But otherwise, a bit thin, 2 stars for story, but 50 % better for the acting performances.

[LeahBethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Amateur Corpse is a nice British mystery and the detective is an unlikely professional stage actor named Charles Paris. His penchant for booze and women add a little bit of "edge" to an otherwise cozy mystery.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful mystery reading 📚

Another will written romantic thriller mystery in the Charles Paris Mystery Series with interesting characters. The story line is fast moving with lots of twist and turns as Charles tries to keep his friend from going to prison. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys mysteries. Enjoy reading 🔰2021 😮

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always get a kick out of the Charles Paris books. I thought he presented himself in this book as his most put-together self yet- next to Hugo Mecken, his friend who ends up accused of killing his much-younger wife, Charlotte, Charles looks straight-up sober.

I read a copy of this that didn't have an ISBN and so was probably published fairly close to its release year of 1976. I love the time period, since birth control and abortion were around but not widely discussed, and being Catholic, at least in England, still implied you shouldn't participate in either. I also like that being gay was apparently something that was okay to tell a relative stranger, at least in terms of it being your alibi, as it is with Ian and Diccon, two men who present as very straight (and Diccon at least, goes overboard with his Lethario persona, at least that's what Charlotte's friend notes, commenting that many homosexuals overdo it like that - but with Diccon, it's just not possible he's gay).

It takes time for the murder to happen - long enough for Charles to get a sense of a group of people called The Backstagers, a group of amateur actors in a small suburb of London called Breckton. Charlotte is the best actor of the bunch, although a man named Geoffrey Winter is very good in the production of The Seagull that Charles sees with Hugo.

Charlotte is found strangled a few nights later, and Hugo accused of the crime; he confesses to it because he was so drunk that he can't remember what he did, and he was upset that it was likely she was seeing someone else. But Charles can't believe it and investigates.

This is where the book is fun and the ending is a bit surprising. Charles discovers that Charlotte was seeing Geoffrey Winter, and he suspects she was pregnant - Geoff's wife Val has always blamed Geoff for their not having children, and Charles thinks Geoff killed Charlotte because she was going to tell Val about the baby. But Charlotte is discovered to not be pregnant, and Geoff is arrested, but for a different crime committed that night - the theft of some jewelry of their wealthy neighbors, the Hobbses.

But the jewel theft is a cover-up- Geoffrey steals the jewels the week before and then, en route to killing Charlotte on Monday night, leaves behind a torch so that the discovery of the theft is made, thought to have have occurred that night as well. He's very clever and meticulous, which we know from Charles' observations of him previously. Ultimately, he finds a clue - Geoffrey's handkerchief left in the Guy Fawkes bonfire that didn't burn all the way- that proves that Geoff killed Charlotte and Hugo should be released.

I love the jabs made at amateur actors - that they should stick to the Christies, etc. all while Charles's career is so dried up, he is trying to get voice/over work through radio ads. We'll see what the next book has in store for the now-50-year old amateur detective!

[Charles · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was handed to me by an amateur theatre actress, so it is fitting that the main conceit of the plot is an amateur theatre group in a town right outside of London. The author does an entertaining job of describing amateur actors and crew, and sends them up brilliantly. These are members of the Backstagers who have managed quite remarkably (but not believably) to accrue enough capital to build their own theatre, rehearsal hall and, more importantly to the author and main character, their own bar called the Back Room. The author could be forgiven if this back room had the same reputation of back rooms around the world but no, it's just a place where the members and their friends can do what amateur players do best and that is get drunk. The plot is tidy, the writing is correct and well paced but the author's personal obsession with alcohol gets in the way, at least for me, of the credibility of anything described. Our hero, a professional actor named Charles Paris, drinks far more than he works, acting or otherwise, and this is not presented as anything other than an acceptable characteristic. For me, the drunkenness happened so often I wondered where we were going with it, but we weren't going anywhere except to the bar to get another drink. And then move the plot along. This became obvious to me late in the game when, by p. 144, Charles left his attorney friend for a bar in the back of the Haymarket populated with out of work actors and the plot moved to "a great deal of alcohol was consumed." Well, bloody hell, what else is new in this book? The next day Charles continues his investigations but not before he stops at the train station bar where "Charles ordered a pint which made his brain blossom out of its dessication [author's spelling] like a Japanese flower dropped in water." The writing is good, but the tale is tedious. Glorifying drinking as a character trait is such a dull thing to do, despite that the author clearly enjoys doing it. Oh yes, there is a murder of an amateur actress, and Charles solves it.

[Norma · Rating 5 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Survival of the bloodyminded."
This version is the (almost) two hour adaptation by Jeremy Front, from a novel by Simon Brett, as a serialized play for BBC Radio 4, all of which is contained in this book, with a full cast and starring Bill Nighy as the troubled thespian, Charles Paris.
Charles constantly has problems with his agent - at least, he would if he ever heard from him - so when he accidentally meets up with an old friend who offers him work in his voice over business, Charles is delighted. But not all is well in friend Hugo's life, despite the affluent !ifestyle, and Charles finds himself caught right in the middle. As usual!

Simon Brett's series of novels, set in the 1970s, about the actor who rarely gets his hopes for a starring role fulfilled, but does get the ladies and unsought sleuthing, are all enjoyable fun. But when adapted for radio with Nighy as lead character, they are a sheer delight of first person angst, comedic occurrences and the joy of the combination of theatrical flair and Paris' home life with his erstwhile wife, Frances. The mystery murder story is okay, but it is the characters and witty dialogue which reign supreme.

Highly recommended for a great comedic two hour escape, complete with snatches of music from the late '60s and early 70s. Simply delicious.

[Imjussayin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Amateur Corpse :Charles Paris 4

In A Nutshell: Is the successful Hugo, guilty of the murder of his younger wife? An easy and amusing read. The story will not bowl you over but Charlie's mum will.

The Plot: Charlie's friend Hugo is charged with his wife's murder. Was it the result of his drinking?

The Protagonist: Charlie is an actor which means he works part time. Leaving him ample time to drink and do sleuthing.

Charlie's mother, Joan, makes this book a must read. What a wonderful character. I will read the whole series if she features.
What a hoot.

The other characters are predictable, perhaps even flat. The story itself is okay.


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Book Rating

Sexual Content: u
Language: u
Violent: U
Would I read the next one or reread ?: Maybe

My rating system (* = star)
0* Could not finish this book (waste of time)
1* Finished the book but didn't like it.
Two* Finished the book it was okay.
3* A good read worth your time.
4* An excellent read often with a novel concept or plot.
5* A great read. A prominent example of the genre.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the digital version of this book. I think it would have been better if I'd listened to the audiobook version. I originally got into the Charles Paris series by listening to one of the novels on BBC iPlayer. Charles Nighy certainly adds something. I think he makes the novels much funnier.

I agree with other reviewers, it wasn't one of the best in the series. Something which irritated me, was how badly the novel had been proof read. There were errors scattered through out the book, for example, 1 for I. I was surprised to see so many in a professionally produced ebook.

That apart, the plot seemed a little far fetched to me. I did like the "period" setting (I think you can count it as period now) and the solution to the mystery depending on old fashioned technology. And Charles' dogged determination to help a friend was admirable.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Charles Paris novels are a lot of fun and this one is no exception. It’s intriguing, amusing and entertaining, and rattles along at a fair pace. Hearing Bill Nighy as Charles Paris in my head probably helps too, as the BBC radio adaptations are also good.

Sadly, the Kindle edition of this book, like Star Trap before it, suffers badly from apparently not having been proof-read. It is littered with random apostrophes, commas and fullstops in the middle of sentences, and numerous other typing errors, many of which can make it difficult to work out the meaning of what’s written. Shame, because it’s a good story.

[Agoston K · Rating 5 out of 5]

They drink like in "Dallas" (you know, the Americal soap opera Dallas). It's a wonder Charles Paris can think clearly with so much alcohol entering his veins. A good plot, nice twists and good banter. As far as cosy mysteries go this series so far is a good one. The addition of Charles Paris's mother added an extra layer of liveliness I liked so much about the debut.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read and enjoyed several books about professional actor/amateur sleuth Charles Paris. When the wife of an old friend is murdered, Charles spends time with a local community group trying to friend's innocence.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good one. Awesome twist. By this book in the series, Brett has learned how to write a juicy mystery and has run with it. I can honestly say I’m a big fan of this series. The acting business details and the characters make these mysteries original and always enjoyable.

[Josh English · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice read. I was not familiar with the amateur theater of the late 70's in Britain, but it's nice to see how similar it was to the youth theater ten years later in America. This was the first Simon Brett I've read and I'm bound to look up another.

[Verity W · Rating 3 out of 5]

SO much fun. I'm really really enjoying this series still - only enhanced by the fact that I've listened to some of the updated radio plays (which have the same solutions, just in a more modern setting).

[Lila · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the tradition of British puns, a "corpse" is theater slag for an unintended breakout of laughter among actors during a rehearsal. Another of Charles Paris, drunken actor/detective, mysteries, this one is a bit date with its comments on birth control pills.

[Sharla · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was fairly pedestrian. Had I read this one first, I doubt I would have looked for another one in the series.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

actually listened to the BBC radio production with Bill Nighy

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good mystery, packed with funny moments.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of an omnibus volume. I have reviewed the four novels separately. This is the final one in the book and the fourth in the Charles Paris series. And the weakest of the four, I think, but still enjoyable because of the Paris character. He's well-developed and amusing.

Paris's travails dealing with amateur actors got a bit tedious and the mystery was easy to solve . . . but getting to justice required a stupendous feat of deus ex machina, not my favorite way to solve a problem.

2.5 stars marked up to 3 by Goodreads.

Don't think I'll seek out any more in this series. Will take to the lake, as a guest could whip threw these in a day or two.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the series
Keeps you guessing

[Rolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the first Charles Paris book I read before this, the mystery here is not particularly clever. What is clever and pleasant here is the dialogue and the wordplay.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story, I didn’t figure out whodunnit though.

[Randee Baty · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Amateur Corpse has a different feel from the first three Charles Paris mysteries because Charles isn’t actually in a production. He’s been asked to be the Critic in a Critic’s Circle for an amateur theater. Charles has gotten suckered into it because his old college friend Hugo’s wife is in the play. He’s supposed to provide professional critique on the amateur performances. Of course, no one really wants to be critiqued, they want to be praised and don’t appreciate it when that isn’t exactly what Charles does.

When one of this troop of amateurs turns up dead, Charles doesn’t like the answer the police are coming up with and begins snooping around on his own. His answers don’t seem to be the same as the ones the police have and after a few twists and turns, outs the killer.

The mystery takes center stage this book. In the first three, it felt as if the The Theater was as important as the mystery but not in this one. The bulk of this story is about Charles’ investigation. As a mystery lover, I like that. The theater is a great setting but doesn’t need to dominate the story to the exclusion of the mystery. I also love that there are lots of references to past stories. I like continuity.

Simon Brett has a great feel for his characters. You believe the motivations and emotions and that those motivations and emotions would lead to the actions of the characters. While this might not be considered “great literature” by artsy types, it gives a lot of insight into human nature. And it entertains me! What more can I ask from a book?

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Professional actor and part-time reviewer Charles Paris isn’t overly impressed with the personalities and skills of the amateur theatre group calling themselves the Backstagers. Since his friend Hugo and Hugo’s wife Charlotte are members, however, he at least tries to appear interested in the group’s performance of Chekhov’s Seagull. When Charlotte is murdered and Hugo arrested, Charles takes a more serious interest the Backstagers, as one of them is probably a killer.

Although I’d heard of Simon Brett, I never picked up one of his books until now. It was interesting to read an English cozy set in the 70’s, where hi-fis and cassette recorders are used to help solve the crime. Typical of cozy mysteries, there is no violence, and the suspenseful buildup was more mild than others in this genre. I know that fans of cozies don’t like graphic violence, but this novel was so bland that even the confrontation between hero and villain lacked any real emotion or drama, which is ironic given that the suspects are actors.

By the way, nearly all of the characters were clichés. Maybe it’s not realistic to expect something new and different from an English cozy set decades ago. On the other hand, I was never disappointed in a Dorothy Sayer or Agatha Christie story. I guess this one wasn’t my particular cup of tea.

[Marj · Rating 3 out of 5]

his is one of the early books in the Charles Paris series by Simon Brett, the fourth in the series. It was published in 1976.

Charles is asked to critique an amateur production, as a favor to a friend. Shortly thereafter, the friend's much younger second wife is found murdered. Charles becomes involved in solving the crime to keep his friend from being convicted of the murder, which is made more difficult because his friend, Hugo, has already confessed to the murder. Hugo feels he must of done the murder, as he was too drunk to remember what had happened.

I found the characters to be interesting and believable, and it was difficult to determine the murderer, even with the many clues Charles discovers--several were red herrings, and took me in (as they did Charles for a while).

Very enjoyable book, looking forward to others in the series. In fact, I've enjoyed books in several of Simon Brett's series, and he's become one of my favorite authors.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

With Charles Paris the professional actor having to give constructive criticism to an amateur dramatic society you know it’s all going to end in tears, laughter and tragedy.

Everyone thinks they can make it on the stage when in fact it takes training, talent and not getting pissed, insulting the director and sleeping with the wrong leading lady. Simon Brett always brings the behind-the-scenes of the professional actors day to life with all it’s ups and downs.

With the continuing stories the author’s characters are becoming more like fond friends.