The Killer in the Choir by Simon Brett is a relatively straightforward English mystery set in the town of Feathering. It was nineteenth in the series, but though it was my first, it was self-contained and easy to follow. I picked it up because it had choir in the title. It was good enough that I kept reading, not enough that I would necessarily read more in the series unless I felt like an undemanding, old-fashioned mystery. Which is sometimes what one wants.

Enjoyable, cosy and familiar mystery romp from the prolific Simon Brett. It was good to reacquaint with the usual characters for undemanding fun.

My thanks to Severn House Crème de la Crime for a digital edition of Simon Brett’s ‘The Killer in the Choir’ in exchange for an honest review. The hardback, ebook and audiobook editions are out now with the paperback edition being published on 31 October.

This is the nineteenth in Brett’s popular Fethering series of cosy mysteries. I was fortunate to have read and reviewed his previous book in the series, ‘The Liar in the Library’ in June so was familiar with its main characters and the setting.

In this case Carole Seddon feels duty bound to attend the funeral of Leonard Mallett, even though she didn’t know him well. At the gathering after the service his daughter, Alice, publicly accuses her stepmother, Heather Mallett, of murdering him. Is it true? The village is rife with gossip.

Jude, Carole’s friend and fellow amateur sleuth, joins the new community choir where Heather is a key member in order to discover more.

The clash of egos and simmering resentments in the choir were very well observed as was village life in general. There are a number of red herrings and the usual strong plotting that Simon Brett excels at.

This particular story is quite dark in places though there are still moments of humour. I enjoyed it and hope to read more in this series.

A lovely cozy crime read. Simon Brett always delivers. Comforting to read, and very satisfying. Highly recommended.

This was the first book I have read in this series but I had no problems getting to know the characters. Cosy crime and village life, its just like Midsomer Murders and Miss Marple. Where life is ruled by gossip and not always revealing the truth. If your neighbour didn’t know everything about you they were invent something and convince everybody that it was the truth.

Carole and Jude, the two amateur sleuths were like chalk and cheese. Carole was reclusive, tetchy and judgemental. Jude was more tolerant, likeable and approachable. How their friendship worked was slightly baffling but they did seem fairly close. Especially over a glass or two of Sauvignon Blanc.

Like many cosy crime novels you couldn’t take it seriously, but its part of the attraction. Total escapism. I had a lot of fun trying to work out who the murderer was. I will dip into this series again.

Number nineteen in the Feathering series and the second one I have read to date. This time around the amateur sleuths Carole and Jude are caught up in with murders in the choir. It has a typical English village/small town setting with the main characters all knowing each other and where gossip spreads faster than butter on warm toast. So far, so ‘cosy crime’. However, where Simon Brett comes into his own is that he tackles diffcult issues, in this book sexual abuse from a family member and PTSD. The author manages to weave in his typical humour throughout and these books would make a perfect TV series.

An entertaining series and one that when you finish the book has you looking forward to what lies in wait next for Carole and Jude. Mind you given the amount of murders in Feathering you do wonder how many people are left and if anyone would want to move there.

A perfectly pleasant way to while away a few hours, in the company of Carol and Jude, Feathering's unofficial private investigators who, as is the way with this kind of cosy crime, are able to get insights into and find a way to solve the numerous murders that occur in a small Cotswolds village before the police can. I enjoy Simon Brett's books, and this was an enjoyable read, but I do prefer his Charles Paris series.

I enjoy reading this series. In this one Jude joins a community choir. When a member of the choir is murdered they set out to solve the crime. Unlike other books in the series in this one Carole and Jude work separately and they are keeping secretes from each other. I like the characters and the small English village setting. The mystery was good. There were enough suspects to keep it interesting. This book does deal with some serious issues like abuse and PTSD, but is still a cozy. This series does not need to read in order. Enjoy

Yet another superb book featuring Carole and Jude investigating crime in Fethering. I found this book darker than some of the others I have read in the series, and it reminded of Brett’s Charles Paris books in that regard.
Carole attends the funeral of Leonard Mallet, she didn’t particularly like him, but felt compelled to attend as a fellow member of the committee for the Preservation of Fethering’s Seafront. With the strange behaviour of Leonard’s widow being noted at the funeral and further domestic discord at his wake; it does not take much to start the gossip in Fethering. Was the death of Leonard an accident or was he murdered? With the police being slow off of the mark, Carole and Jude step in to investigate. What will they find out? Will a friend or enemy of Leonard be proven to have murdered him?
I really enjoy all books by Simon Brett, but have a particular soft spot for the Fethering mysteries, and this one certainly does not disappoint.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Killer in the Choir is the 19th book in the Fethering Mystery series by Simon Brett. While I have enjoyed a vast majority of these books, this latest title is not one of my favorites.

Carol and Jude are neighbors in the small village of Fethering and they couldn’t be more different from each other. Jude is an out-going “healer” who can talk to anyone and lend a sympathetic ear. But, Carol, a former employee of the Home Office, is just the opposite. She’s uncomfortable in most social settings and she has a judgmental streak that lends itself to a large dose of cynicism. Nevertheless, the two women are friends, in part, because they both enjoy being involved in police investigations. After a murder occurs, Jude and Carol begin to conduct their own inquiries. But, this time, Carol and Jude seem to be at odds with each other and their friendship suffers.

Normally, I enjoy the interactions between the two women. But in this book their relationship feels petty and childish. Furthermore, the level of gossip that pervades the village is off-putting and I found most of the characters to be quite aggravating. Carol and Jude seem to feel that they are entitled to interfere with a police investigation, which is another factor that bothered me. In fact, the police seemed to be nowhere to be found in this particular book, which seemed a bit unusual.

Nevertheless, as cozies go, The Killer in the Choir is still a decent mystery with a variety of characters. This time it just didn’t sit quite as well with me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

What I particularly enjoy about this series, is that while the murder investigation is the engine that powers the plot, Brett also gives us a real slice of life within the Fethering community. We get an insight into what matters to this community – both good and bad – and Brett isn’t afraid to take a pop at the frailties of the characters he depicts. There is an edge to his observations and I enjoy seeing how he plays with our assumptions – and then throws in a twist, such as the fact that buttoned-up Carol previously had a fling with the village landlord. In fact, I don’t particularly like Carol, whose self-righteous, rather jealous behaviour frankly gets on my nerves – however those traits help to make her effective at worrying at a mystery until she has solved it to her satisfaction. It certainly doesn’t impact on my enjoyment, as her rather jaundiced, sour observations are also insightful and rather funny – and while I don’t like her, I do like the more easy-going, relaxed Jude.

I found this investigation even more enjoyable than the previous one – there were several real surprises that had me reading far into the night to find out what was going to happen next. I’d figured out what happened and why – until the denouement, when I realised that I’d got it completely wrong. Nonetheless, despite my complete misreading of the situation, the perpetrator and the reasons for the wicked deed made absolute sense – and the clues were there. In short, Brett writes a cracking whodunit with a very well-plotted mystery which is a joy to read.

I haven’t read all nineteen of these entertaining books – but given just how much I have enjoyed these last two, I am definitely going to be visiting Fethering again. This series is far too much fun to miss out on. While I obtained an arc of The Killer in the Choir from Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
8/10

This is book 19 in the Fethering series and Carol and Jude must find out who murdered neighbor Leonard Mallett. With his daughter accusing her stepmother of murder Jude joins the local community choir to dig up the dirt, and there is plenty of it. While there is a theme of abuse Simon Brett does bring some humor into the story. Can be read as a stand alone but you'll probably enjoy it more if you know Carol and Jude a little better. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a bit of a slog to get into at first but I persevered and after about 15% in I was enjoying it.
Carole and Jude are an odd pair and there are lots of characters which I found confusing.
I liked the story line and it raised several issues which were dealt with OK.

Thanks to NetGalley, Simon Brett and Severn House for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

The Killer in the Choir
(Fethering Mystery #19)
by Simon Brett

Kindle Edition, 192 pages
Published July 1st 2019 by Severn House Publishers





Goodreads synopsis:
Although she hadn’t known Leonard Mallett very well, nor liked him particularly, Carole Seddon feels duty bound to attend her fellow committee member’s funeral. As she suspected, the hymns, readings and sermon are all very predictable – not unlike Leonard himself. What she couldn’t have predicted was that the deceased’s daughter would use the occasion to publicly accuse her stepmother of murder.

Did Heather Mallett really kill her husband, as many Fethering residents believe? Deciding to get to the heart of the matter, Carole’s neighbor Jude joins the new community choir – and discovers that amidst the clashing egos and petty resentments lurk some decidedly false notes. At least one chorister would appear to be hiding a deadly secret – and it’s up to Carole and Jude to unearth the truth.

***

3 Stars

This is the nineteenth book in the Fethering Mystery series by Simon Brett.

This is the first book I have read in this series and I wonder why any of these people like each other enough to attend the same church much less be in the same choir together. As a former choir member in my old church and a current worship team member of my current one, I am totally familiar with the dynamics shown here. We usually have to team old familiar hymns with new contemporary Christian songs that the younger people hear on the radio. It is not usually an either/or question. You need to appeal to the entire congregation not just a select few. This enhances their worship experience. They learn new songs and get to sing old favorites at the same time. The majority of a congregation these days is usually over 60 years old. They put in new contemporary songs in order to appeal to younger people and draw them to church.

I was uncertain about the plot of this book. I have never heard of a choir singing at someone’s wedding, especially a new and untrained choir who couldn’t read much or sing much in harmony. In my church choir I was one of only a few harmony singers. Getting something like this book talks about off the ground is quite a large task.

The two sleuths in this seemed less like a tag team and more like they were competing with each other. I don’t know why there needs to be two sleuths plus the police. Lot of people investigating and not a lot of people being suspected of murder. I thought the plot was a bit convoluted. But choirs are more convoluted than anyone realizes. You spend more time with these people than anyone else in your life usually. Someone is usually always angry at someone else. And there is always that one person who gets so much joy from being in the choir yet can’t seem to hold a note on tune to save their life. There are always the standout singers and the ones who don’t have the confidence to project their voice more than a whisper. I think this book got the choir dynamics right but I felt the motivation of the murders fell flat.

I had a lot of hopes for this story but came away thinking it was just a decent book.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

In Which Carole And Jude Join The Choir...
Book nineteen in the Fethering Mysteries - neighbours and sometime amateur sleuths, Carole and Jude, join the local choir in an attempt to get to the bottom of a murder. Some darker themes in this one although still full of the characteristic wit of the series as a whole.

Small town life in Fettering will never be boring as long as there may be a Killer in the Choir.

Leonard, a retired and rich industrialist, is dead. Did he fall down the stairs or was he pushed? His daughter, Alice, thinks her stepmother, Heather, did it for money. After all, Heather had just convinced Leonard to change his will to leave everything to her. And nothing to Alice. Two local busybodies, Carole and Jude, decide to investigate.

Killer in the Choir is a perfectly serviceable cozy mystery set in a quaint English village. Unfortunately, it is hard not to compare it to earlier, better, entries in the series. However, this one is a good way to spend a few hours. 3 stars.

Thanks to Severn House and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was hard to get into for me. I will read some more of the series as this is the 19th book so obviously very popular.

An excellent mystery, darker than the usual cozy.
I read it as fast as could because it's gripping and entertaining. I made me laugh and it made me think.
I love Carol and Jude and I love the quirky cast of characters, well written and fleshed out.
There's a lot of humour in this book and there're moments when it make you think.
I appreciated the empathy toward the victims and how the author describe an abuse without too many details, just an overview that makes you understand the drama.
The mystery is great, full of twists and turns, and the ending came unexpected.
It's the second book I read it this series and I think it can be read as a standalone.
I look forward to reading the next instalment in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Simon Brett is always reliable and you know pretty much what you’re going to get in the Fethering series; a well written, fairly light-hearted mystery with some rather shrewd characterisation and comments on village life. The Killer In The Choir is firmly in this mould, although I didn’t think it was one of his best.

This time, Carole and Jude look into the death of a local businessman, whose wife is a stalwart of the church choir. There is the usual nice contrast between Carole’s prim, direct manner and Jude’s more easygoing understanding of people and the enjoyable characters of Fethering. I did have some reservations, though. The story touches on some quite dark themes of sexual abuse and PTSD, which didn’t sit quite comfortably with the generally light tone of the book. I also thought the red herrings were a little overdone and the denouement a bit silly, to say the least.

This is a light, easy read and fine for a couple of hours distraction, but perhaps not quite as enjoyable as some of Simon Brett’s work.

(My thanks to Severn House for an ARC via NetGalley.)

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in return for a fair and honest review.

I read the first couple books in this series several years ago, and after reading an ARC of #18, The Liar in the Library, decided to go back and read the intervening books. I've read several, and am working my way through them.

If you enjoy the Fethering books, which I do, you'll like this one as well. What I found most interesting here is the character development - really noticeable with having read several of the books in the series right in a row. Carole, in particular, has developed, through improvements in her family life and through her association with Jude and solving mysteries.

The mystery seems to take second place to characters, the secondary characters as well as the primary ones. For me, that's fine - I enjoy reading about the characters in the town and how they interact. I also enjoy the fact that the books conclude with a wrap-up of what happens to all of the characters after the book ends.