The Tomb in Turkey: A Fethering mystery

It is no secret on this blog that the Fethering series is one of my favourite cozies. I enjoy the contrast between Carole, the prim and proper retired civil servant, and her neighbour Jude who has a rather laissez faire attitude to life and, from Carole's point of view, a rather murky past that doesn't bear thinking about.

One of the features of the plots is their unlikely nature, and this one particularly interested me because of its setting in Turkey, which I have visited at least twice, and because this is the first time that Simon Brett has taken his sleuthing busybodies outside of England.

This was perfect holiday reading, with the usual quirky humour as Brett pokes fun at his two main characters, from Jude being disconcerted by a neighbour who insists on staring at her cleavage, to Carole's need to find a purpose to having a holiday.

Our intrepid sleuths, Carole and Jude, are off on holiday. As a thank you for her healing services, Barney Willingdon has offered Jude free use of one his villas in Turkey. Jude readily accepts and Carole (who doesn’t really do holidays) accepts Jude’s invite to join her somewhat reluctantly. But even before they reach the airport, Jude is starting to have second thoughts. She starts to hear some worrying stories about Barney, and that’s before Barney starts to imply that there may be a hidden cost to the holiday. Barney and Jude have a romantic history, and Barney seems intent on re-kindling it, something that Barney’s wife may not be too impressed by...
Once they arrive at the villa, typically the women have different ways of spending their time. Jude is happy to relax by the pool with a trashy novel while Carol decides to take the hire car to check out the local area – the town, the countryside, the tombs... one of which, needless to say, has a fresh body inside it. One that has vanished by the time Carol returns with Jude...
Book Sixteen of The Fethering Mysteries, a series that I’ve reviewed from both ends, namely the first two books, The Body On The Beach and Death On The Downs and the most recent, The Strangling On The Stage. The basic set up for the newcomer is that Carole and Jude are neighbours, friends despite their opposite natures, and have a habit of tripping over corpses and catching murderers.
Simon Brett, in case you’re not aware, writes his mysteries with a light touch. I had trouble with the more forced humour of the Blotto, Twinks and... series, but here he lets the situation dictate the humour. Here, Carole embodies the sort of person who has basically never been abroad before, especially not to the exotic climate of somewhere like Turkey. Being someone who lives quite happily in a routine at home, the notion that she may well have to eat the local food ensures that her suitcase is well-packed with Imodium. I can sympathise with this, as my parents only began travelling late in life and, like Carole, they adapted to the local culture once they got there. It’s interesting to contrast her attitude with the beer-swilling British tourists (who make a fleeting appearance) who go abroad and completely fail to try to embrace the local culture. I really enjoyed Carole’s little journey of discovery, in particular the change she makes when she gets back home – something quite major for her.
Apart from that major change, this is everything that regular readers will expect from the series – an entertaining mystery with colourful characters with a strong vein of humour coursing through it. Why change a successful formula? Admittedly, as with previous entries, it’s not really a classically clued mystery (unless I missed something) but it’s streets ahead of the majority of cozy mysteries out there. An enjoyable read – I must get on with reading some of the earlier books – and Highly Recommended.

Review of The Tomb in Turkey by Simon Brett                                                                5 stars

Although not too often, a book comes along unexpectedly that just takes over all of one’s free time. You think about the characters; you visualize the settings; you marvel at the writing and you wonder about where the plot will take you and when you may return to reality. The Tomb in Turkey is certainly that kind of book and so far it is one of the best books I have read in 2014.

This hooked me from the very beginning with the oil-water relationship between long time neighbors Carole Seddon and Jude and the simmering feuds over whether to take advantage of a two-week free holiday in an exotic country. Jude, the free spirit of the two was more than willing to jump in and would welcomingly take things, as they would come. Carol, always uptight and could never seem to relax about anything, held Jude hostage by withholding her consent to agree to go on the holiday until the very last minute.

Carole and Jude were amateur detectives and were put into a situation of trying to determine the motive and operation of a murder while vacationing in Turkey. During the course of their investigation they began to be intuitive and at times daring causing greater emotional hardships to Carole but more welcoming adventure to Jude. Although the two merged better as the adventitious investigation continued, after the crime was solved, I got the impression they both reverted to their former selves once back in their homeland of England. 

I could not find anything about this book that I did not like. Simon Brett was faultless as an author and he is one that I will read again and talk to others about. This book’s impression will be with me for a long time to come.

This story is worth every bit and more of a 5 star rating.

Thank you for giving me the unique opportunity to read and review it as I enjoyed every second spent reading and anticipating reading. I still smile when I think of Carole and Jude at the Morning Glory in Kayakoy.

I will publish this review on the Amazon.com site on the publication date of March 1, 2015

Gordon Reiselt Albuquerque, New Mexico October 29, 2014

Going on holiday to Turkey for a fortnight is way outside Carole Seddon's comfort zone and when her friend and next door neighbour, Jude invites her to go she is dubious.  Carol naturally wants to know why this property developer friend of Jude's has offered her a villa free of charge and suspects it may be payment for 'service rendered'.

Barney Willingdon is in fact one of Jude's former lovers but she broke off her relationship with him because she didn't trust him.  Now he wants to rekindle their relationship and threatening to appear at the villa they will be using.  Jude wonders about the fate of his first wife too.

I really enjoyed reading this book and read it in less than twenty four hours.  It is amusing and the author has got the relationship between Jude and Carole just right.  I was alternately chuckling and wincing because I can recognise some of Carole's traits in myself.  The mystery is actually quite slight but I hardly realised that while I was reading as the relationships between the characters kept me turning the pages.  

I'm sure the many fans of the Fethering series will love this latest addition even though the action does mainly take place outside Fethering.  The series can be read in any order but if you read them in the order in which they were published you can see the relationship between Carole and Jude developing.  I received a free copy of his book for review purposes from NetGalley.

This review will go live on my blog on 10 November and on Amazon on publication day.  It is currently live on Goodreads.

A charming detective story with two retirees from England transplanted into the foreign climes of Turkey. The two chalk and cheese amateur sleuths work well as an opposite view of each other. I wasn't expecting much from this but I was pleasantly surprised! So much so that I have actively looked for previous novels based on these characters. I look forward to other works from this author.

I am a great, long-standing fan of the Fethering Mysteries and was a little apprehensive to learn that the action for their latest escapade would be set outside the South-East of England and would lose something by going onto foreign soil.  I was happily wrong and I enjoyed every minute of this book from start to finish.  I also learned quite a lot about Turkey!

Our two amateur sleuths are in fine form and, setting this latest mystery in another country, gives us an opportunity to see Jude and Carole in a different light as they each start to get on each other's nerves at the start of the holiday.  We also get to see Carole become more relaxed and confident in her own abilities as she does a bit of snooping without Jude.

Jude was refreshingly not as eternally optimistic and patient (nor honest) as we have seen her in previous instalments and it was fun to see a different side to each of our heroines and another dimension to their relationship.

Plenty of laughs sprinkled along the way along with a satisfying start in Fethering and an interesting mystery in Turkey.  I really hope Mr Brett will continue writing this adored series for many, many years to come.  I'm always anxious that the latest instalment will be the last in the series but, I fervently hope not.  'The Tomb in Turkey' is an excellent addition to the series and proves that the Fethering Mysteries still have a lot of blissful books ahead (fingers crossed!).