Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse is the first book in the Major Bricket Mystery series by British author, Simon Brett. With the news that Major Bricket will be returning to the Sussex village of Stunston Peveril for good, everyone in the village airs a myriad of opinions on what the unforthcoming Major actually did for a living.

The Summer Fair is on, Lavoisier’s Circus is on Ratchetts Common, and everyone, even the Major, will be at the Costume Ball at Fincham Abbey this evening. When Major Bricket arrives at Highfield House, though, there’s a nasty surprise in his garage. The corpse is dressed as a clown, and before calling the local constabulary, he examines the scene very carefully.

At the Ball, the whole village is agog with wild theories about what the police presence means: illegal immigrants (Rhona, Cosy Collectibles), aliens (Crocker Fosbury, Goat & Compasses publican), a demonic cult (Lena who cleans the vicarage), the Knights Templar protecting the fragment of the true Cross in the chapel (Deidre, Post Office), or an unexploded WW2 bomb (Elvira Finchcombe, Gingham Tea Shop).

The clown costume, and a twisted iron bar send the police in the direction of Lavoisier’s Circus but, after talking to several performers and the ring-mistress, Camille, the Major isn’t convinced. When he learns the identity of the victim, he begins looking in a different direction, checking the history surrounding his orphaned garden boy, Rod Enright. Nga Luong, the Vietnamese owner of the Green Lotus Thai, known as a “Human Fortune Cookie”, plays a surprising role.

While DI Pritchett goes after the circus strongman, the Major is questioning the publican’s brother, a petty thief, an art dealer and an antique dealer. Eventually, he realises that, while Rod isn’t much of a gardener, he will make an excellent investigator, having a photographic memory and an education in some nefarious activities.

Before the culprit is revealed, there are a few twists and red herrings, and the reader is kept guessing about what is going on in Stunston Peveril. The villagers certainly provide some humour, as does Nga Luong with her fortunes, while Bricket proves his powers of deduction are very good, and he gets a taste for solving murders. This is an enjoyable cosy and more of the cast will be welcome.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK

Sadly this book is unreadable. The author jumps from one set of characters to the next mid paragraph, with no warning. It was hard to follow even just the basic storyline due to this, and was impossible to get into. Sadly I can’t recommend this book due to this