Rating: 4/5
Review:
Very enjoyable
I enjoyed A Deadly Habit very much. Let's face it, you know pretty much what
you're going to get from a Charles Paris mystery: a slightly implausible plot
in which someone involved with Charles's current production mysteriously dies,
some shrewd and often acerbic observations of theatrical characters and their
behaviour, some slightly inept investigation by Charles himself and a lot of
unflashy but very good writing. This
doesn’t disappoint at all.
This time, Charles is invited to appear in a West End
production of a not-very-good play which is a vehicle for a big movie star whom
Charles knew when they were both fresh out of drama school. Sure enough, someone dies and Charles
eventually pieces together what happened.
There is also a lot of background about alcoholism and its struggles,
which I thought was well done; Brett is very good at tackling this sort of
thing with a little wit but never trivialising, so it is honest without being
too grim or sentimental. The whole thing
is a very easy, pleasurable read with a little more substance than many books
in this genre – and one scene where Charles speaks to a retired, waspishly camp
director made me laugh out loud more than once.
Simon Brett is a master at this sort of thing and he has done
it yet again. If you want an amusing,
enjoyable read which nonetheless has a bit of substance to it, I'd recommend
giving this a try.
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