Neighbors Carole and Jude investigate murder most horrid in the theatre in the latest Fethering village mystery from the original king of British cozy crime, internationally best-selling, award-winning author Simon Brett, OBE. For fans of Richard Osman—but with added bite!

Carole Seddon, a very respectable retired woman living in the English seaside village of Fethering, doesn’t care for the theatre. But her neighbor Jude counts the job of actress among her many and varied past careers. So when Jude attends the closing night of a new play based on a classic TV sitcom, Carole is interested—but only because she suspects the leading man, Drake Purslow, is one of her scandalous friend’s ex-lovers.

The night turns out to be more dramatic than either Carole or Jude could have ever predicted. After the performance, Jude makes her way to Drake’s dressing room, only to find him dead—in what, to Jude’s experienced sleuthing eye, seem very suspicious circumstances.

Did one of the play’s cast—made up almost entirely of the original sitcom’s actors—have a long-held grudge against the show’s star? Or are more recent hatreds to blame? Jude is determined to find out—and Carole, who despite protestations is almost pathologically nosy, is right there to investigate alongside her.

Not met Carole and Jude yet? Dive right in, and discover why The Guardian called Simon Brett “one of British crime’s most assured craftsmen.” Fans of Janice Hallett and M.C. Beaton are in for a treat.