Mrs. Pargeter’s Public Relations by Simon Brett

Reviewed by Jeanne

Mrs. Pargeter is a very wealthy widow who harbors no illusions about the reason she receives so many invitations: there are always those who wish to part her from some of that wealth.  She can be quite generous, providing the charities measure up to her standards, or if the cause in question concerns some of her late husband’s employees, all of whom are still exceedingly loyal to his widow.

It’s the latter reason that finds Mrs. Pargeter at a charity ball—something she detests, often paying NOT to attend such events—for a cat rescue, animals being another thing of little interest to Mrs. P.  However, Jasmine Angold, a recent widow of one of Mr. Pargeter’s most trusted employees, wants to attend so off they go. It’s there that she meets a woman who is her late husband’s sister—or so she claims. It’s quite a surprise, but then Mr. Pargeter was (as she puts it) quite economical with facts, believing they should be issued on a “need to know basis.”

After all, one can’t be successfully questioned by the police about things one knows nothing about.

A murder after the charity ball has Mrs. Pargeter consulting her husband’s little black book to solve the case and prevent a scoundrel from sullying Mr. Pargeter’s reputation.

This was my first foray into the world of Mrs. Pargeter and it will not be the last.  I was assured that I did not have to read the books in order and I had no trouble keeping up with this one.  Simon Brett’s writing is a delight. His characters are vivid and entertaining. Mrs. Pargeter herself is elegant, intelligent, and resourceful with a strong sense of duty to her husband’s employees, all of whom are unfailingly devoted to her.  

 Brett also has a dry, straight-faced sense of humor and a turns a fine phrase, such as:

“Suicides may deal efficiently with the actual process of killing, but they very rarely manage to bury themselves after their deaths in shallow graves in Epping Forest (which is, incidentally, London’s go-to destination for the burying of bodies in shallow graves.)”

Brett has earned numerous awards for his writing, including a Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association. If you like British humor and mysteries, then you’ll find Simon Brett a treat.