Cozy Mystery Corner discussion

The Member's Choice for September 2025 picked by Helen is The Mrs Pargeter Series by Simon Brett.

Meet Mrs Melita Pargeter, a vivacious widow whose mystery-solving talents come in handy when a murderer stalks a hotel for well-to-do retirees.

She checks into the Devereux Hotel on England’s sunny south coast. Where secrets hide behind every door and the sea-views are to die for . . .

Her arrival, in a fancy car and a flurry of silk, causes much excitement among the elderly residents.

By next morning, they have something new to talk about — the discovery of a crumpled body at the foot of the stairs.

The victim is old Mrs Selsby, timid occupant of the hotel’s most coveted sea-front room. Everyone says her death was a tragic accident, but Melita’s not so sure.

Wealthy Mrs S. just happens to have left her fortune to her fellow Devereux residents. And then there’s the matter of her jewellery. A priceless collection that seems to be disappearing piece by piece . . .

Melita may be pushing seventy, but she still has a trick or two left up her sleeve.

The first book in the series is A Nice Class of Corpse


The rest of the series is :-

Oh, good, I've had a box set of these for ages.

Mrs Pargeter is an excellent sleuth. I was quite horrified by the type of hotel seniors were living in in their retirement. I can’t imagine anything I’d hate more than such a regimented existence in a building with no lifts (elevators).

I read A Nice Class of Corpse which I've had on my tbr for a while. It was not as good as I expected it to be. I'm not sure why I was disappointed in it because I enjoyed it until the end. I think I kept expecting more depth and it never came.

I read the first in this series in Sep - and forgot to post. 😳

Enjoyed the mystery - it was well-written. I like the MC but was not fond of the setting in a 'hotel' for seniors. I think later books in the series may have a different setting. If so, I'll read the next in the series.