Death on the Downs

by Simon Brett
Ralph Cosham

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It wasn't the rain that upset Carole Seddon during her walk on the West Sussex Downs, nor was it the dilapidated barn in which she sought shelter. What upset her was the human skeleton she discovered there, neatly packed into two blue fertilizer bags.

Thus begins the mystery for strait-laced Carole and her more laid-back neighbor Jude, whose investigation takes them to the small hamlet of Weldisham. There gossips quickly identify the corpse as Tamsin Lutteridge, a young woman who disappeared from the village months before, after becoming involved with several practitioners of alternative medicine. But Detective Sergeant Baylis will confirm nothing, and Tamsin's mother is adamant that her daughter is still alive. Others believe a serial killer is on the loose. As Jude sets out to find Tamsin—either dead or alive—Carole digs deeper into Weldisham's history and the bitter relationships simmering beneath the village's gentle façade.

Creators
- Simon Brett
  
  Author
- Ralph Cosham
  
  Narrator
Series

Fethering Mystery
Publisher

Blackstone Publishing

Edition: Unabridged
Awards
- Diamond Dagger for Lifetime Achievement Award
Release date

November 9, 2004
Formats
- OverDrive Listen audiobook
  - ISBN: 9781481561747
  - File size: 219634 KB
  - Duration: 07:37:34
Languages
- English
Reviews
- AudioFile Magazine
  
  Caught in a rainstorm while on a solitary stroll on the West Sussex Downs, Carole Seddon takes refuge in a dilapidated barn, where she discovers human remains packed inside a pair of blue fertilizer bags. Together with her free-spirited friend, Jude, Carole sets out to solve the mystery of the bones. Their quest takes them to various Weldisham pubs, to the home of a missing teen, and to a New Age health retreat, as the pair sift through village gossip and local history to find the identity of the body and discover how it got there. With a largely female cast, it's surprising that DEATH ON THE DOWNS is read by a man. But Geoffrey Howard gives a sensitive reading to Brett's novel, the second in his Fethering series, resulting in a mystery as riveting as it is charming. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
- AudioFile Magazine
  
  Carole Seddon "parked the Renault on the outskirts of Weldisham, a village in the foothills of the South Downs that looked from the outside as though it hadn't changed much since the days when Agatha Christie might have set a murder there." Since Christie has at last consummated her flirtation with death, Simon Brett is the one who must produce the human skeleton, and get this story going. Brett has a beautiful, deep voice, with just a dash of plum. There follows a classic English mystery. Who's good? Who's wicked? Carole trusts her friend Jude, or does she? The puzzle challenges the mind. The neat prose and precise reading gratify the ear. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine
- Library Journal
  
  February 1, 2003
  When Carole Seddon discovers two blue fertilizer bags containing the neatly stacked bones of a human body, she has no idea of the perils that await her. Carole, a timid, retired Home Office employee, is not comfortable with the kind of attention this discovery brings her. When her friend Jude returns, the two women decide to solve the mystery on their own. Brett (The Body on the Beach) has created another interesting cast of characters in his "Fethering Mysteries," including Carole, a prim woman who doesn't-or at least thinks she doesn't-care for change, and Jude, her neighbor, who is so secretive that no one even knows her last name. Jude is assertive and outgoing, the exact opposite of Carole, but they form an interesting team when detecting, and this won't be the first murder case they solve. Geoffrey Howard's narration sets the proper British tone. Sure to be popular with those who enjoy literary "cozy cottage" mysteries, this is highly recommended for all public libraries.-Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville
  Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
- Publisher's Weekly
  
  July 23, 2001
  Carole Seddon, newest of veteran Brett's three series sleuths (actor Charlie Paris and widow Emily Pargeter are the others) gets a second turn following her debut in The Body on the Beach. Seddon, an early Home Office retiree, prides herself on her sensible approach to life—a snug place in Fethering, a routine that involves mental exercises like the Times
  crossword puzzles and long walks along beaches or out on the Downs. On a walk on the South Downs near Weldisham (a village that "looked from the outside as though it hadn't changed much since the days when Agatha Christie might have set a murder there"), a driving rain forces Carole to seek shelter in an abandoned barn, where she discovers a bag of human bones. The local police are informed, and rumors spread to the effect that the bones might have belonged to a missing young woman named Tamsin. Soon Carole and her somewhat mysterious and exotic friend Jude are busily involved in sussing out information on their own—partly for adventure, and partly because Tamsin had once turned to Jude for help. Carole's lack of self-confidence, really a lack of self-awareness, is meant to be endearing, but becomes irksome at times. All in all, Brett's more than competent plotting, a cast of characters that play against type to keep things sufficiently interesting and his take on village gentrification combine for fine entertainment. The author's core fans and those nostalgic for the traditional English cozy will snap this up.