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Simon Brett
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The Torso in the Town: A Fethering Mysery (Fethering Mysteries (Audio)) MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, October 1, 2003

by Simon Brett (Author), Ralph Cosham (Reader)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 478 ratings
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A dinner party at an English mansion with some stuffy, not-very-close friends is not exactly Jude's cup of tea--but the practically mummified torso of a woman found in the cellar is right up her alley. There is no way of knowing how long the dead body has been there, or even who it once was. Intrigued by this new mystery, Jude elicits the help of her reluctant neighbor, Carole, to help solve the case. And perhaps in the process she can snap Carole out of her growing depression, the result of a recently failed relationship. Their detective work soon uncovers that Pelling House's previous owners include two divorced couples who harbor a lot of resentment--and Jude and Carole suspect that they may be harboring some dark secrets as well. Once again, the two middle-aged women from Fethering find themselves embroiled in a puzzling whodunit.
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Blackstone Audiobooks
  3. Publication date
    October 1, 2003
  4. Dimensions
    5.62 x 0.39 x 5.08 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0786188189
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0786188185
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Blackstone Audiobooks; Library ed. edition (October 1, 2003)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0786188189
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786188185
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.04 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.62 x 0.39 x 5.08 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 478 ratings

About the author

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Simon Brett

Simon Brett

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Simon Brett worked as a producer in radio and television before taking up writing full time. As well as the much-loved Fethering series, the Mrs Pargeter novels and the Charles Paris detective series, he has written a number of radio and television scripts. Married with three children, he lives in an Agatha Christie-style village on the South Downs. You can find out more about Simon at his website: www.simonbrett.com

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
478 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

T J Ryder
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good read.
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2013
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Simon Bretts tells very believable stories, and the town/village busy-bodies who like to solve the mystery and end up getting a little too involved.
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Nancy Dean Nichols
4.0 out of 5 stars Review by a Fethering Fan
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2020
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Carole and Jude stumble across a years old murder in a nearby town where they know almost no one. Of course they want to know who did it, even more so after the police close the case with the assumption that the murderer is dead. There are so many chance meetings and coincidences that provide Carole and Jude with clues that they even remark on it. Still its an entertaining mystery with characters I've enjoyed following.
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Ellen Rappaport
5.0 out of 5 stars A stunner of an ending.
Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2016
The Torso in the Town by Simon Brett.

The 3rd in the Fethering mysteries. Carole and Jude, both middle-aged retirees, have been hooked into another baffling murder case. Jude has been invited to a dinner party in the not so near by town of Fedborough. Then during the usual small talk that accompanies a dinner party among the guests the teenage son of the hosts yells out from the basement.

Jude not the first on the scene witnesses a sight that renders her speechless...at least for another few minutes. The torso of an unidentified person without any limbs lay before them.

This is one of my favorite mystery series and this book reinforces that choice. Excellently written with clear character definition and background. The resolution was not a simple one but it was a stunner!
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Jennifer R Evans
3.0 out of 5 stars An enjoyable Sussex story!
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2015
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Great fun! A very enjoyable read...especially for a local!
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Bizgen
4.0 out of 5 stars Cosy crime of a higher calibre than some
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2011
I'm not so keen on the Charles Paris books, but loved the first couple of the Mrs Pargeter series  Nice Class of Corpse, A  when she first came on the scene, although I found the originality of the character was not sustained in later episodes. Sadly the first one seems to be out of print (bring it on for Kindle, publishers!)

However, the Fethering series is very enjoyable and easy to read, nice for bedtime or when you don't want your intellect to be too challenged. That is not to denigrate Simon Brett's powers as a writer, for he can produce some good prose and interesting insights when he chooses, as in: 'Grant's capitulation provided an interesting sidelight on his marriage. Like many egotists and control freaks, Grant Roxby could be cut down to size quite easily by the right person. The balance of power in the relationship between him and his wife was not as it appeared from the outside.'

I like the way Simon Brett writes, there are never any lapses of grammar, you know you are reading a novel conscientiously and professionally produced. And he has a deft sense of humour. All right, they aren't masterpieces of literature, but they are a jolly good read and you aren't up to your armpits in gore or terrified out of your wits. You know the main characters are still going to be there in one piece for the next in series - and I enjoy them! I would urge you to start at the beginning of the the series with  The Body on the Beach: A Fethering Mystery  so that you understand the background of the 'detective' duo.
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Author, Top Reader
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2010
Simon Brett is that rare critter who can both write and perform a mystery/detective story with superior style. The Torso in Town is first rate on both scores. In this 'case', the two middle-aged neighbor ladies are inevitably drawn into a bizarre killing when the remnants of a body, the torso, is found preserved in the basement of a home in which one of the duo is attending a dinner party. From then on, driven by their insatiable curiosity, the two exceed all bounds of common courtesy and good sense, in their efforts to find out 'who dun it'.
Brett writes, as always, with irreproachable clarity, sharp wit, and a good deal of human understanding. Despite their nosy, almost arrogant, self-delegation of authority in dealing with others in pursuit of their goals, he manages to make his crime-solving duo quite human and likable. The featured cast are drawn with acerbic wit but,yet, are not caricatures. His fine performance as reader, complements his prose by his ability to combine the humane with the wry wit.
All-in-all, a welcome addition to Brett's second series of amateur detective books.
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Nash Black
5.0 out of 5 stars Univited Party Guests
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2010
Now that the introductions are complete in two previous Fethering mysteries, Simon Brett gives readers a treat into the personalities of Carole & Jude in THE TORSO IN THE TOWN.
Jude is a giving person and to help Carole recover from depression she asks for her help in solving a murder mystery that came to light during a dinner party she attended for the new owners of Pelling House? A body without a head, arms, or legs was discovered in the basement.
Who were the previous owners and who was killed gives arm-chair sleuths a workout as they follow Carole and Jude on their investigation.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.
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Lynn T.
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoying the Fethering Series
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2012
"The Torso In the Town" is the third book in the Fethering Mystery Series which I am enjoying very much. This time the murder victim is in the village of Fedborough which is 8 miles inland from Fethering. Jude attends a dinner party there and the teenage son of the party host discovers a torso in the basement of the house that they had recently moved into. Jude shares the news with her sleuthing partner and neighbor Carole and they decide to team up again to investigate the crime.

Carole at the beginning at the book had retreated back into her previous uptight personality due to the breakup with her relationship with pub owner Ted Crisp. The solution to the murder and ending to the book is different. It is one that I will remember. I enjoy Simon Brett's style of writing and as looking forward to reading the next in the series "Murder in the Museum."
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Top reviews from other countries

Marianne
5.0 out of 5 stars South Downs setting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 6, 2021
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A consistently good series. Two neighbors who are polar opposites become friends mostly through proximity and a mutual interest in crime solving. Lucky for them, the South Downs provides quite a few opportunities! Well written and funny, you won’t be disappointed.
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John W.
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2023
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Easy read
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Murphyz
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 11, 2016
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Great characters, especially well written and believable. Follows on from the second book, Death on the Downs. Don't know if it would have been so enjoyble if I hadn't stuck with the second one in the series. Jude still an elusive character.
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A Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Comfort Food for the Daytime TV Mystery Lover...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 14, 2016
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I stumbled across Simon Brett purely by accident, and this is my third experience with one of his books, the third in the Fethering Mysteries. I wasn't sure about it to begin with, but I do like a good crime/ mystery novel, and most of the time opt for light escapism rather than any gritty, dark or overly complicated plots which can take a good half hour just to get into, & reams of pages. The Fethering Mysteries are light and easily readable if you only have ten minutes here and there, the plot plods along in a satisfying but not too challenging way, and I find it comforting reading after a hectic day or between life's stresses while on a quick break. For me it's reminiscent of those daytime tv dramas like good old 'Murder She Wrote' or 'Rosemary & Thyme', a pleasant distraction, that while being humorously unrealistic manages to draw you in anyway. If you like that kind of thing I would give this book, or this author's series a go. The books themselves (so far) have undeniably kept me turning pages, while also wondering strangely why. These are not very spectacularly written stories, in fact some of the traits the characters have, grated on me in parts, as if the author has ran out of ways to express himself, or is happy to just repeat the few shallow details about a character rather than them acquiring more depth as you read on. Maybe that is so that you don't have to read them in sequence, that anyone picking one up could gain the same information quickly, I don't know. Already with so few books behind me I feel like I've heard a thousand times about Carol and her precious Burberry coat, and the fact that Jude is bubbly and rather care-free, and I keep getting this niggling thought of 'what else? Tell me more already!!' I suppose in the same way that a half an hour daytime tv drama does not give you masses of insight into a character's personality, I will have to be content with Carol remaining defined by her 'sensible haircut' and coat, conveniently in contrast to all of Jude's repeatedly mentioned patterned scarves and floaty skirts, but I would like to see at least the main cast give away a bit more every now and then, I don't feel like I've progressed much even three books in. Cleverly, however, at the same time the author must have something special, because even with such limited description and stereotyping, it still somehow works, and you feel a sense of warm endearing to the way Brett describes the English settings and people involved. These may not be the best novels of their kind ever written, and yet I'm still buying the books..The recipe works somehow. They definitely have a place in the mystery reader's bookcase, even if the reason itself remains a mystery to me!
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sajamor
3.0 out of 5 stars I found it hard to care
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2019
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I would say this is one of the better plotted Fethering mysteries with a good range of suspects, motives and subplots plus an excellent twist.

However, the notable seedy undercurrent throughout made page turning emotional engagement trickier than usual.

First there's the dwelling on gory details of the corpse's state. Then there's the lack of character likeability, including and at times especially among its main ones.

Carole's reclusive histrionics after the fizzling out of a short relationship where neither side did anything hideously wrong or embarrassing are pathetic. However, for once I preferred her to Jude. Using a teenager's ordeal recovery to help solve a murder was despicable - what kind of trouble would Jude have been in for doing that in a police investigation that actually was her business?

Then there were the Fedborough inhabitants mostly painted in shades of black with hints of the author's prejudice against middle class, small town south Englanders. If he dislikes these people that much, why does he continue living among them? And why is it acceptable to stereotype and pillory people based on where they're from when that's not a different race, country or income bracket?

The only background characters with any real hint of decency were a drippy vicar (from a church Brett clearly doesn't like either), a self pitying alcoholic who wouldn't help himself and conversely got way too much sympathy from Brett, a doormat ex wife and a self deluding current one. Brett can and generally does create character casts containing quite a lot more pathos and depth than this.
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