Perfunctory but enjoyable. When Jude is held captive on the houseboat at the end I was infuriated that she didn't pick up the manual typewriter and bang on the porthole with it. Those things are massive and she might have been able to puncture the wall with it. Harrumph. ( )

Brett, Simon. The Torso in the Town. Fethering No. 3. Berkley, 2003.
Simon Brett is a master craftsman. He builds sweet little mystery machines that run like clockwork and surprise you just when they should, and never more than they should. Carole and Jude, two mismatched retirees, work without the help of the police to solve the mystery of a dismembered body found in a posh house basement. Just under the surface is a not-very-kind portrait of middleclass English society in the twenty-first century. As usual in this series, it is fun to watch how our heroines work through different logical paths to come to the truth in the end. Brett is always the perfect guy for a short beach read, especially if you have run out of Dick Francis novels. ( )

I try to give an author and series a fighting chance before completely giving up on them. Since I'm slightly anal retentive and HAVE to read a series in order, this is my third foray into the world of Fethering through the characters Carole and Jude. Sadly, this will be my last, as well. Here are a few of the reasons I will NOT be returning:

•Technically, Carole and Jude aren't detectives. They never actually go "detecting." The story is always opened with one of them finding a body. Things progress to a scene at a pub or some other event where multiple people attend and you are introduced to a great number of the cast of characters. From there, the pair listen to other's conversations and ask very pointed questions that miraculously are answered. There is never any late night B&E or stealthily following anyone to pick up clues or riffle through pertinent documents. So basically, no suspense.

•It seems as if the author only has one ending and he uses it in each of the three I've read so far. One of the pair of snoops is taken hostage by the would be killer. You hear the dialogue between the kidnapper and hostage, but are left in the dark as to their identity until the end where the other one saves them. No surprises. Period.

•My last reason is purely an annoyance. I enjoy loving, or if nothing else, liking the heroes and heroines of the books I read. I just can't here. They simply grate on my nerves. Why does Carole have to be so stuck-up, prudish and unfriendly? And why doesn't she just ASK Jude what her last name is or where she's been, etc? Friends actually ask each other questions.

Goodbye, Carole an Jude! The third time was NOT a charm. ( )

Nice cozy escape. Good characters. Interesting puzzle. I'm not sure about the ending. Satisfying and surprising culprit, but the disposition made me uneasy. ( )