AuthorSimon Brett, Jeremy Front
NarratorBill Nighy, BBC Full-Cast
SeriesCharles Paris Mysteries, Book 17
Duration1h 51m
CategoriesAdult Fiction, Crime, Thriller and Mysteries, Plays and Dramatisations
PublisherBBC Audio
VersionUnabridged
Bill Nighy stars as actor and amateur sleuth Charles Paris in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Simon Brett's novel
Charles' career is on the up. He's starring in a revival of a popular (though hackneyed) 70's farce – and while his fellow actors aren't exactly who you'd want to find yourself in bed with, he's happy to be in work.
But while there may be comedy on stage, offstage it's rapidly turning into a whodunnit. First the director drops dead, then another premature death follows soon after when an audio producer doing a promo for the show dies in suspicious circumstances.
The cast are hiding some shady secrets, and have plenty of skeletons in their cupboards which they don't want rattled, but would anyone go as far as murder to protect themselves? Charles is determined to find out, and turns detective in an attempt to find out if foul play is afoot...
This witty, stylish dramatisation by Jeremy Front stars Bill Nighy (Love Actually, Skylight, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as his long-suffering wife Frances.
Written by Jeremy Front, based on the novel by Simon Brett.
A Charles Paris Mystery Book 13: A Series of Murders
Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
SeriesCharles Paris Mysteries, Book 13
Duration 57m
Charles Paris, actor and amateur sleuth, is working in television as the brainless bobby sidekick to a suave detective. The accidental death of an unpromising actress causes little suspicion, except in Charles' mind. He decides to investigate.
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 8h 30m
Bracketts, an Elizabethan house near the town of Fethering, is about to be turned into a museum. Once the home of celebrated poet Esmund Chadleigh, it has been decided that it should now become a shrine to his life and poetry. But the transition from house to museum is running far from smoothly, and Carole soon begins to regret her decision to be o...
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A Charles Paris Mystery: A Doubtful Death
Author: Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
Author Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
Narrator Bill Nighy, Full Cast
Duration 2h 10m
Bill Nighy returns as the loveably louche actor-cum-amateur detective Charles ParisCharles Paris is in Oxford, appearing in a re-imagining of Hamlet by a high-concept drama company. No fan of immersive theatre, he's unimpressed with the director's vision and less than thrilled to be rehearsing alongside puppeteers and mime artists.But he soon finds...
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 7h
When Jude agrees to lend her vintage chaise longue for the local Amateur Dramatic Society's production of George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, little does she realise she'll end up in a starring role. It's an ambitious play, culminating in a dramatic execution scene: a scene that's played for real when one of the leading actors is found hang...
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 7h 35m
All bets are on when there's a body found at the bookies. When Jude wanders into Fethering's local bookies she has no idea that she will shortly be investigating the murder of Polish immigrant Tadeusz Jankowski. With her partner in crime, friend and next-door-neighbour Carole, she's determined to discover who killed him - and why? There are several...
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 6h 55m
Invited to a Private View of the work of controversial artist Denzil Willoughby, the good citizens of Fethering are not quite sure what to expect. And it turns out to be a lively affair, culminating in several embarrassing confrontations. But what no one could have anticipated was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. The police seem...
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 7h 25m
It wasn't the rain that upset Carole Seddon during her walk on the West Sussex Downs. It wasn't the dilapidated barn in which she was forced to seek shelter. No, what upset her most was the human skeleton she discovered there.... So begins the second investigation for strait-laced Carole and her more laid-back neighbour Jude. This time their enquir...
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A Charles Paris Mystery Book 4: An Amateur Corpse
Author: Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
Author Simon Brett, Jeremy Front
Narrator Bill Nighy, Full Cast
SeriesCharles Paris Mysteries, Book 4
Duration 1h 52m
Charles is out of work again, and to make matters worse his mother has come to stay and he's no way of escaping her. So when he's offered some voiceover work by old friend, Hugo, he's delighted to get out of the house. But Hugo's marriage is in trouble: his much younger wife, Ellie, spends all her time at her Amateur Dramatic Group, and Hugo is dri...
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A Charles Paris Mystery Book 9: Murder In the Title
Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Bill Nighy
SeriesCharles Paris Mysteries, Book 9
Duration 1h 50m
Charles Paris is his own worst enemy, a louche lush who can resist anything except temptation - especially in the form of women and alcohol. He's been out of work so long now he feels he may never get a job and he's driving Frances, his semi-ex-wife, mad. So when he's offered a small role in a play, she nearly pushes him out of the door. But it see...
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Author: Simon Brett
Author Simon Brett
Narrator Simon Brett
Duration 7h 35m
The affluent seaside resort of Smalting is unaccustomed to crime. So when human remains are found beneath the floorboards of one of its beach huts, the community is awash with suspicion and fear. Amateur sleuths Carole Seddon and best friend Jude are drawn into the mystery, and their suspicion quickly falls on attractive Philly Rose, a young London...
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