Audio Books : Mystery and Suspense : Other quality : English


All narrated by the author and all were collected and recorded by peterg23.



Mrs Pargeter is a widow with a shadowy past who, with a little help from her deceased husband's criminal friends, is able to solve some uncanny mysteries.

#1. A Nice Class of Corpse (1986). [5 hrs 5 mins] Cassette.* (32 kbps / 22 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
Mrs Melita Partridge,a regular series creation of Mr Brett, has been called a kind of anti-Miss Marple and I can see what is being hinted at for while cast in the same fictional mould of of elderly lady snoop she is some way away from being the cosy old grandmother type who inhabit the closed world of British crime novels with a genteel setting. For one thing her late husband was a burglar and she has retained contacts with the criminal elements albeit not the more thuggish elements. Events are centred around the Devereux Hotel in Littlehampton. It is a residential hotel with only permanent residents. Residents begin dying,ostensibly accidentally but we as readers are made privy to the thoughts of the murderer, for indeed the crimes are murder. The body count begins to mount while Mrs P pursues her investigations with a little help from her criminal friends...
(*** Be warned, this first title in the series could only be found on very old cassettes, and it shows! Note that part 4 is of generally poor quality even after EQ ***)

#2. Mrs, Presumed Dead (1988). [5 hrs 28 mins] Cassette. (32 kbps / 22 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
It is 18 months since the death of Mr. Pargeter, and Mrs. P. has just moved to a new home in a small development of upwardly mobile families in Surrey. But she quickly determines that something decidedly fishy has happened to the former mistress of the house, Theresa Cotton. Remaining quintessentially ladylike, Mrs. Pargeter--dare we say it?--snoops, uncovering clues that lead to Theresa's body and point the finger of guilt at any one of the other women of the houses in Smithy's Loam. Further investigation leads to a suspicious religious organization, The Church of Utter Simplicity, to the ruined career of Rod Cotton, and to real danger for Mrs. P. at the hands of a woman who has killed before!

#3. Mrs Pargeter's Package (1990). [5 hrs 15 mins] CD (48 kbps / 44 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
On a tour of Greece, the mature and spirited Melita Pargeter, last seen in Mrs . Presumed Dead , takes on a case more substantial than her earlier challenges. When she agreed to join recently widowed Joyce Dover on holiday, Melita knew she was apt to encounter the moodiness of the freshly bereaved. But Joyce appears to be importing a bottle of the Greek liqueur ouzo from England, and talks about her husband controlling her from the grave. When she is found dead, an apparent suicide, Melita has even more on her hands than she bargained for--including the mysterious package she has smuggled through customs for her friend. Brett, also the author of the Charles Paris mysteries, is at his best here contrasting the sunburned secretaries and complaining couples on the inexpensive package tour with plump and plucky Melita, who even in the face of murder can observe that marble flooring is easily wiped clean of bloodstains...

#4. Mrs Pargeter's Pound of Flesh (1992). [5 hrs 38 mins] Cassette.* (32 kbps / 22 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
Plump Mrs. Pargeter accompanies her friend to a "fat farm" but with no intentions of losing weight. Instead, she enjoys the attentions of its owner, not to mention the full talents of the resort's gourmet chef. Quite accidentally, she stumbles upon the corpse of a young woman who seemingly died of anorexia. The ever-curious Mrs. Pargeter sets out to discover the facts surrounding the suspicious death. Enlisting the help of her dead husband's associates from the underworld, she winds her way through charlatans and impostors and toward a dangerous confrontation.... (* Minor tape echo in some parts)

#5. Mrs Pargeter's Plot (1996). [5 hrs 13 mins] CD (48 kbps / 44 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
Mrs. Pargeter decides to use some of her inheritance to build a country home. For such a large undertaking, Mrs. P. turns to someone she can trust, an old friend of her husband's who sports the moniker "Concrete Jacket." Despite his best intentions to keep on the straight and narrow while in Mrs. Pargeter's employ, it isn't long before Concrete finds himself in hot water when a corpse turns up in the wine cellar--to his dismay, all the evidence points to him. Before the cell door can slam behind him, the redoubtable Mrs. Pergeter is on the case, aided by the shadiest bunch of do-gooders this side of Robin Hood's Merry Men....

#6. Mrs Pargeter's Point of Honour (1999). [6 hrs 36 mins] CD (48 kbps / 44 kHz Mono CBR Fhg)
Art theft in reverse is the subject of Brett's latest comic mystery starring Mrs. Melita Pargeter , a charming Londoner whose genteel demeanor belies a keen intellect and steely determination. Elderly Veronica Chastaigne enlists Mrs. Pargeter to oversee the secret return of her late husband's collection of "hot" paintings to their rightful owners. To do so, Mrs. Pargeter assembles a team of her own late husband's old "associates," including private detective Truffler Mason and interior designer Denzil Price. But when Mrs. Pargeter's team go to pick up the paintings, they discover that someone has already scooped up the stolen collection of Old Masters. A merry chase is on, as Mrs. Pargeter and company seek to reclaim the paintings...

* I have just discovered that the author has decided to resurrect the Mrs Pargeter character (15 years after the last book!) and we can expect a seventh title called Mrs Pargeter's Principle to be released some time in 2015. 


Enjoy and Seed!!