Mrs, Presumed Dead

Brett, Simon. Mrs., Presumed Dead. 1988. Mrs. Pargeter No. 2. Thorndike Press, 1990.
Mrs. Pargeter is the widow of a successful man whose business trips would not all have been approved by the local constabulary. He willed her a pistol, a sword cane, and a set of burglar’s tools. He also bequeathed to her an address book filled with experts of various criminal skills. She herself never participated in her husband’s adventures, but all his accomplices promised to look after her. So, when she sets out to solve a murder in a stuffy, racist middle-class neighborhood, she knows just who to call to get the research help she needs. Brett is a master of the form and is a writer who can make the objects of satire suffer bleeding wounds before show more they know they have been cut. 4 stars. show less

The second book in the Mrs. Pargeter series of mysteries from the 1980s. In this one, the title character has left the hotel for rich old people she was staying at in the previous book and moved into an upscale suburban development, where she discovers that her house's previous owner might have been murdered before she ever left.

It's a fairly good set-up for a murder mystery, but I can't say I was all that invested in the question of whodunnit. Possibly in part because it took me half the book before I could keep the handful of neighboring housewives straight, and they made up most of the suspects list. Still, it was a quick, pleasant-enough read that worked well for a week when I was feeling a bit sleep-deprived and stressed and needed show more something light. show less

Easy-reader. Pargeter is like a sledgehammer at times. Also, somewhat repetitive with a few things. However, the ending is logical and I did not see it coming. Pargeter novels are interesting enough, with all their rough spots even, to want to continue the short series. Good for a tea-in-mug day read.

Mrs, Presumed Dead is a British series mystery featuring elderly, well to-do widow Melita Pargeter. Mrs. Pargeter’s late husband was apparently some type of unnamed criminal mastermind. She has just moved into the small very upscale subdivision of Smithy’s Loam and soon begins to suspect that at least one of the late occupants of her new home (Acapulco by name) is herself late in the very final meaning of the word. The husband also seems to have disappeared but perhaps not so finally. She sets herself the goal of finding out what has happened to the pair. To do this she makes considerable use of all kinds of “business associates” of her late husband. Every other inhabitant of Smithy’s Loam seems to have a dark secret that they show more want to keep at all costs and there is even a crazy religious cult (sort of a Church of What’s Happening Now) involved. The book is a pleasant enough read and Mrs. Pargeter makes an interesting detective although her having someone to call on for help at every phase of the investigation seems a bit much. The ending is also a little weak with Mrs. P. losing much of the competence she had shown throughout the rest of the book. Still, it was an entertaining cozy read. One thing that did seem strange to me was the fact that the homes in this modern (c1988), upscale, very yuppy neighborhood still sported radiators. It made me wonder when central heating came on the scene. show less

This was better than the other books in this series, there was more interaction with other probable suspects, and there was more of a mystery with who the corpse was, what became of the corpse. We got to meet more of her late husband's "co-workers". There was just more going on and for me that made this a better read.

Another crime novel. Mrs Pargeter is a modern Miss Marple using her deceased husbands contacts to help solve mysteries. Pulp fiction.

Very Enjoyable!