The Hanging in the Hotel

Brett, Simon. The Hanging in the Hotel. Featherstone No. 5. Pan, 2004.
Simon Brett has the knack of writing Cosy mysteries with a noir edge. The Hanging in the Hotel is so noir that until I looked at the publication date, I could have sworn it was a commentary on Trumpian culture. Jude and Carol, his two middle-aged amateur sleuths, solve mysteries, it seems, just to give their lives some meaning. This time they investigate an apparent suicide in a local posh but declining hotel. In the process, we get to know the whole business world of this beach community, and let’s just say, none of them have much of a moral compass. Imagine Jessica Fletcher as a depressive and Cabot Cove as an English town with a particularly venal Rotary Club in show more charge. show less

Jude’s old friend Suzy Longthorne has asked Jude to fill in for a waitress at her “country home” style hotel; this is especially crucial as the hotel is hosting a dinner for the Pillars of Sussex, a male-only philanthropic club that specializes in local charitable work generally organized by the wives of the club members. Some time after the meal, Jude comes across a very drunk guest of the Pillars and she puts him to bed as he chatters happily about proposing to his girlfriend. When the guest is discovered hanged in his bedroom the next morning, however, all of the Pillars and Suzy are convinced that it must be suicide, but Jude begs to differ…. This is the fifth in the Fethering series, and we begin to learn a great deal more show more about Jude’s history: for example, that she was a model in the 1960s and an actress for a time thereafter. Carole, in the meantime, is surprised when her grown son informs her of his engagement, and she is uncertain what to make of his fiancee when they first meet. I like that the characters are becoming more complex as the series continues, and as we learn more about their histories; this particular entry also brings in some sly jabs at reality television and the murky world of paparazzi and modeling. Recommended. show less

This is one of those easy reads: a pleasure to flick through an effortless couple of hundred pages in a day type reads.

Simon Brett is particularly good at making his detectives, Carole and Jude, into ordinary people. Agatha Christie began the art with Miss Marple but, whilst there were unquestionable characteristics of an old woman within Marple, she was never a really believable character and she always knew a high ranking policeman to open doors for her - not Brett's sleuths, they are considered busy bodies.

The story ambles to its amiable conclusion but, why, oh why did we have an unsatisfactory ending whereby the main malefactor gets away scot free? It may be true to life, but this story, like any good detective fiction, isn't. The show more art is, surely, to put realistic characters into unlikely plots.

This is a minor gripe in what is a fun read. show less

Carole and Jude are on the case again - only this time, it looks like they might be wrong. Was Nigel's hanging a suicide, or murder?

The Fethering series is unique in that there's a fair amount of conflict between the two main characters / amateur detectives; they're not best buds, and there's no joking around. Carole is controlled and controlling, and a bit insecure. Jude is relaxed and carefree, while also being tightlipped about her past, which pushes all of Carole's buttons.

In the 5th installment of the series, we are introduced to Carole's son Stephen (or Steven - not sure which, since I listened to the book which currently featured in Audible Plus) and his fiancee; they also feature prominently in Book #6.

I'm assuming that the other books in the series must be better, as this was strictly ho-hum. It falls into the Agatha Christie style mystery; short on violence, long on puzzling it out. Pillars of Sussex meeting ends with a hanging in the hotel. Later, at another Pillars meeting, yet another Pillar dies. Was the first death really a suicide? Two middle-aged detectives, Jude and Carol, solve the mystery after a series of twists and turns. The killer--Bob Hogkins (sp)--the most likely suspect. But wait, he put his chauffeur up to the dirty work and manages to skate free. He is, of course, the Pillar of the Pillars of Sussex. Sounds cynical, and it is a little, but the genteel nature of the detectives mitigates against the "he gets away show more with it" ending. show less

Suzy Longthorne is in a bind and she desperately needs help. Her once exclusive hotel is in need of a cash flow. After the events of September 11 she has seen bookings at her hotel drop, so in order to make good on her investment she has opened the doors of the Hopwicke Country House to the general public.
She is currently hosting a meeting of the Pillars of Sussex, an exclusive gentleman's group of business and community leaders from the area. They tend to get a bit rowdy after drinking and Suzy is short-staffed so she goes to her dear old friend Jude to see if she can help waitress the party. Jude accepts and gets more than she bargained for.
While at the hotel Jude is frazzled with all the many chores she has to do, working as a show more waitress, bartender, and a maid Most of the members of the Pillars of Sussex are lushes and sexist and she is forced to deal with them. She even helps a prospective member of the group back into his hotel room after he falls drunk outside. He regales Jude with all his dreams and aspirations as he hopes to join the men's organization. When, on the very next morning, he is discovered hanging from the bedpost everyone is convinced that it was suicide. All except for Jude. The man had lots of dreams and was planning on doing some great things. The last thing on his mind was suicide; Jude is convinced of it. So why is everyone in a rush to call his death suicide?
THE HANGING IN THE HOTEL is the latest alliterative entry in the English village of Feathering mysteries. The British cozy mystery series is filled with light humor, colorful characters, and outrageous situations from the lead characters in the story. Jude is a free-spirited and determined middle-aged woman who will find out the truth into the death and even involve her straight-laced neighbor Carole Seddon to help her. show less

Jude and Carole Seddon investigate an elitist, hard-drinking group of businessmen after the suspicious suicide of the one of their inductees.