His writing style is very assured. Reading one of his mysteries feels a bit like taking a mini vacation. I will have to look for more of the C. Paris books.
Loved the kick-off quotation: "With respect to the extravagance of actors, as a traditional character, it is not to be wondered at. They live from hand to mouth: they plunge from want into luxury; they have no means of making money *breed*, and all professions that do not live by turning money into money, or have not a certainty of accumulating it in the end by parsimony, spend it. Uncertain of the future, they make sure of the present moment. This is not unwise."

William Hazlitt (1778 - 1830) "On Actors and Acting" ( )

TThis is an early episode in the casebook of down-at-heel actor Charles Paris, and is recounted with Simon Brett's customary humour. This time around, the setting is less theatrical than in previous novels as Charles is in one of his lengthy periods of "resting", with no prospect of imminent acting employment anywhere on the horizon.

The story opens with Charles dining with Bartlemas and O'Rourke, a gay couple renowned in London's theatrical world for the eccentricity of their dress, their obsession with Edmund Kean and William Macready, and their almost religious dedication to attending the first night of any new West End show. They are at ‘Tryst’, a fashionable restaurant run by O'Rourke's cousin Tristram Gowers, a former actor who had retired from the profession and tried his hand as a restaurateur, trading on the marvellous cooking skills of his partner, Yves Lafeu.

As it happens, this is the last night that the restaurant will be open for quite some time, as Gowers and Lafeu are planning to set off very early the following morning for their annual month-long vacation in Cahors, France. However, as the evening draws to a close, they suddenly find themselves embroiled in a very public and vitriolic argument. This, however, is not uncommon and has in fact become one of the principal attractions for regular diners in the restaurant. The customers drift off assuming that this is just another lovers' tiff.

Meanwhile Charles has been given the offer of work through the actors' old boys network. Unfortunately, it is not a decent acting job but, rather, the chance to earn some black economy cash as a decorator, working for a colleague whom he had acted with years previously, and who has developed a side-line to tide him over through long periods of ‘resting’. As luck would have it, the flat that they will be decorating is that occupied by Gowers and Lafeu. We never find out, however, whether Charles is any better at painting and decorating than he is at acting, because no sooner have he and his friend entered the supposedly empty flat than they discovered the mutilated corpse of Yves Lafeu.

The obvious implication is that the argument in the restaurant had boiled over into physical rage, and that Gowers murdered his partner before fleeing the country. O'Rourke is reluctant to accept that his cousin could have murdered Yves, however sorely provoked, and, aware of Charles's past sideline in investigating murders, he pleads with him to delve into the case.

As usual, Brett delivers a very humorous and entertaining story, and Charles remains as empathetic as ever. Brett never allows the humour to compromise the plot which remains watertight. A recurring theme throughout the Charles Paris novels is his penchant for adopting disguises based upon former roles from his career, although these always prompt him to recall the reviews the role in question drew. Paradoxically he can always remember the poor or excoriating reviews verbatim, but can never once call to mind a positive comment.

This was very entertaining, if slightly dated (but, after all, it was written in 1984). ( )

This series started pretty high up the scale and just gets better.

Poor old Charles Paris; his career has reached such a low that he signs up to be a painter and decorator. Needless to say, the first house that he enters contains a dead body and we're off.

The expected array of red herrings later, Mr P solves another pleasing case - and there's a call from the National Theatre: has his star risen at last? You'll have to read the book to find out. ( )

This is an early episode in the casebook of down-at-heel actor Charles Paris, and is recounted with Simon Brett's customary humour. This time around the setting is less theatrical than in previous novels as Charles is in one of his lengthy periods of "resting", with no prospect of imminent employment anywhere on the horizon.

The story opens with Charles dining with Bartlemas and O'Rourke, a gay couple renowned in London's theatrical world for their eccentricity of dress, their obsession with Edmund Kean and William Macready, and their almost religious devotion to attending the first night of every new West End show. They are at Tryst, a fashionable restaurant run by O'Rourke's cousin Tristram Gowers, a former actor who had retired from the profession and tried his hand as a restaurateur, trading on the marvellous cooking skills of his partner, Yves Lafeu.

As it happens, this is the last night that the restaurant will be open for quite some time as Gowers and Lafeu are due to set off very early the following morning for their annual vacation of a month in Cahors, France. However, as the evening draws to a close they suddenly find themselves having a very public and vitriolic argument - this is not uncommon and has become one of the principal attractions for regular diners in the restaurant. The customers drift off assuming that this is just another lovers' tiff.

Meanwhile Charles has been given the offer of work through the actors' old boys network. Unfortunately it is not a decent acting job but, rather, the chance to earn some black economy cash as a decorator, working for a colleague from a past production who has opened up a sideline to get him through long periods of "resting". As luck would have it,, the flat that they will be decorating is that occupied by Gowers and Lafeu. We never find out, though, whether Charles is any better ant painting and decorating than he is at acting because no sooner have they entered the supposedly empty flat than they discovered the mutilated corpse of Yves Lafeu. The obvious implication is that the argument in the restaurant boiled over into physical rage, ad that Gowers murdered his partner before fleeing the country. O'Rourke is reluctant to accept that his cousin could have murdered Yves and, aware of Charles's past success in investigating murders, he pleads with him to delve into the case.

As usual, Brett delivers a very humorous and entertaining story, and Charles remains as empathetic as ever. Brett never allows the humour to compromise the plot which remains watertight. A recurring theme throughout the Charles paris novels is his penchant for adopting disguises based upon former roles from his career, though these always prompt him to recall the reviews the role in question drew - paradoxically he can also remember the poor or excoriating reviews verbatim, but can never once call to mind a positive comment.

This was very entertaining, if slightly dated (but, after all, it was written in 1984). ( )