A Smattering of Reviews

‘A new Simon Brett is an event for mystery fans.’

P.D.JAMES

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‘Simon Brett writes stunning detective stories. I would recommend them to anyone.’

JILLY COOPER

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‘Murder most enjoyable... An author who never takes himself that seriously, and for whom any fictional murder can frequently form part of the entertainment industry.’

COLIN DEXTER

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‘One of the wittiest crime writers around.’

ANTONIA FRASER

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‘Simon Brett writes the kind of good whodunits that could have been written fifty years ago... and he has a sly sense of humour.’

THE TIMES

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‘Simon Brett is one of British crime’s most assured craftsmen, with idiosyncratic characters proving winning creations... A feast of red herrings, broadly drawn characters, and gentle thrills and spills litter the witty plot. Crime writing just like in the good old days, and perfect entertainment.’

THE GUARDIAN

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‘One of the exceptional detective story writers around.’

DAILY TELEGRAPH

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‘Few crime writers are so enchantingly gifted... as Simon Brett.’

THE SUNDAY TIMES

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‘Like all the best English whodunits, this murder mystery is set in one of those old Home Counties villages where everything looks immaculate on the outside but old secrets have been simmering. Beautifully plotted, with a sharp eye for the social comedy of middle-class, middle England.’

DAILY MAIL

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‘Like a little malice in your mysteries? Some cynicism in your cosies? Simon Brett is happy to oblige.’

THE NEW YORK TIMES

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‘England’s pre-eminent author of the comic mystery story.’

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

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‘No one delivers more pure entertainment.’

SAN DIEGO UNION

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‘The great British mystery writers, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Brett, have a way of making murder so, well, civilised.’

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse

Meet Major Bricket, an infrequent resident of Highfield House in Stunston Peveril, Suffolk. In the past the Major's work assignments, frequently in foreign countries, have prevented him from spending much time there and as a result, there is an air of mystery around him while everyone in the village speculates on the nature of his occupation.

But now the Major has retired and has come home for good in his open-topped little red sports car... and what a homecoming it is, for lying spreadeagled on his lawn in the summer sunshine is the corpse of a clown.

The circus is in Stunston Peveril for the annual village fair, yet none of their quota of clowns is missing - or at least, nobody is saying. Could the body be that of an unfortunate early guest at the village's highlight of the social calendar, the Fincham Abbey Costume Ball? Fortunately Major Bricket's past clandestine career means that he is now very well placed to solve the mystery of the dead clown on his camomile lawn...